wag the dog

短语

发音

AU

词形变化

wagged the dog wagging the dog wags the dog 三单 wags the dog wagging the dog 现在分词 wagged the dog 过去式 wagged the dog 过去分词

释义与例句

v.
  1. 1.

    To divert negative political attention by use of a military operation.

    习语 政治
  2. 2.

    Used in a phrasal verb: the tail wags the dog: to control, as a minor part, a larger thing; to be the tail wagging the dog.

词源

From the tail wagging the dog / the tail wags the dog, first used in the 1858 play, Our American Cousin. The shortened form with the political sense was popularized by the film Wag the Dog (1997).

来源：wiktionary