Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

wag the dog

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.03 in modern English

Syllables
wag the -dog
IPA
18
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
2
Syllables
8
Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

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

verb

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.

Etymology

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).

Inflected Forms

wags the dog (present, singular) wagging the dog (participle, present) wagged the dog (participle, past) wagged the dog (past)

Questions

What does wag the dog mean?
To divert negative political attention by use of a military operation.
Where does wag the dog come from?
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).

How to pronounce wag the dog

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “wag the dog”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
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  4. Repeat and practice — Say “wag the dog” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.