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Glite Dictionary
tail wagging the dog

tail wagging the dog

1 8.4
A small, unimportant part that controls the whole thing
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : la cola que mueve al perro
  • Many believe the focus on minor regulations is just the tail wagging the dog in the larger debate about climate change policies.

But the analogy is that the acquitted conduct cannot be the tail wagging the dog, right?

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Examples

  • However, the historical pattern of the tail wagging the dog is a well-established habit that usually does not change swiftly.

    Blog text (21)

  • Some might call this the tail wagging the dog, but no one seems to see this as a problem.

  • I have never seen a worse case of the tail wagging the dog.

    Blog text (30)

  • Letting the tax tail wag the dog is not a good idea.

  • Well now, if that's not the tail wagging the dog, I don't know what is.

    Blog text (4)

  • So the naysayers have become the tail wagging the dog of the immigration debate, and they may succeed in blocking a solution this year.

    Academic text (2006)

  • Some critics argue that the funding for arts education is a case of the tail wagging the dog in a budget that should prioritize core subjects.

  • In the latest reshuffling, the manufacturing sector seems to be the tail wagging the dog, overshadowing more crucial economic discussions.

Synonyms

to wag the dog
vstail wagging the dog
  • Literature
1 8.8

Make people focus on something less important to hide a bigger problem

describes a minor part that controls a more important whole rather than diversion

Surface Forms

tail wagging the dog singular
tail wagging the dogs plural

Morphology

tail + wag + the + dog

The literal meanings of 'tail', 'wag' and 'dog' signal an unlikely reversal of normal roles (the small part controlling the whole), so some inferable metaphorical sense exists. However, the specific idiomatic meaning 'a minor part exerts control over the main part' is a conventionalized metaphor that a B1 learner who only knows the words may not reliably derive without exposure, so it is only partially transparent.

Etymology

Tail wagging the dog comes from the simple picture of a small tail moving the whole dog. If the tail (a small or less important part) seems to make the dog (the main thing) move, that's why the phrase means 'a small or unimportant part controlling the main thing'.