wag the dog
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
To divert attention from a problem by creating a distraction
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
làm phân tâm khỏi một vấn đề bằng cách tạo ra một sự phân tâm
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: a smaller dog being wagged by a larger dog
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
The government is wagging the dog with this new policy announcement
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “wag the dog” mean?
To divert attention from a problem by creating a distraction Literally: a smaller dog being wagged by a larger dog
Is “wag the dog” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.