to wag the dog

1 8.8

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

idiom

Literature

: desviar la atención

Instead of addressing the budget issues, the leader chose to wag the dog with a new initiative.

OK, now that sounded like a big old circle, like the tail wagging the dog.

Examples

Letting the tax tail wag the dog is not a good idea.
The politician tried to wag the dog to distract voters from the scandal.
Letting the tax tail wag the dog is not a good idea.
Whether it's Fox or the Tea Party, Republicans have let the tail wag the dog.

Blog text (26)
That's #1 on why this whole "scandal" sounds like wag the dog.

Blog text (15)
Bangkok had become the tail that wagged the dog not only of Thai politics, but of Thai culture, of the Thai economy.
And again, what starts to happen is like the tail wags the dog because people start to compare their relationship to that idealized, stylized thing.
It just seems to me the tail's beginning to wag the dog here. "I understand, kid," she said lightly, "but what you've got to understand is that your case is a dog." Seth said nothing.

Fiction book (1995)
Let there be little doubt that the so-called "Beltway Bandits" are all too often the tail that wags the dog in Washington's policymaking process.

Blog text (15)
During the debate, she attempted to wag the dog with unimportant details about her opponent's past.

Synonyms

to deflect attention

vsto wag the dog

6 5.2

To make people look at something else to avoid criticism

intentionally shifts focus toward less important matters for political or media distraction

to deflect the conversation

vsto wag the dog

7.0

To change the topic on purpose to avoid a subject

diverts public focus toward less important matters beyond one discussion

to misfocus

vsto wag the dog

8.0

To give attention to the wrong person or problem

intentionally shifts attention away from important matters rather than by mistake

Antonyms

to focus on

∞ 2.0

Give most attention and effort to one person or task

to address

∞ 3.6

To deal with a subject in speech or writing

Surface Forms

wag the dog infinitive

wagged the dog past

wagged the dog past participle

wagging the dog present participle

Morphology

wag + the + dog

Although the words 'wag' and 'dog' are individually transparent, the idiomatic political meaning 'to divert attention from an important matter' is a metaphorical inversion that cannot be directly inferred from the literal meanings of the constituents. The figurative sense depends on cultural/political knowledge of the tail-wagging-dog image and is not predictable for a B1 learner who only knows the component words.

Etymology

The verb wag the dog comes from the image of a small tail wag making a big dog move, so the small part seems to control the whole. A famous movie used this idea to show leaders creating a fake crisis to distract the public, and that's why the phrase now means 'to divert attention'.