tail wagging the dog

English

Pronunciation

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Noun

tail wagging the dog

1. (idiomatic) A minor or secondary part of something controlling or dominating the whole or the main part.
   • 1987 May 9, Gordon Gottlieb, Richard Burns, Sue Hyde, “Homocrats and Liberationists: Burns and Hyde Consider the Community's Institutions”, in Gay Community News, page 8:

     This is classic for all non-profit agencies: the tail wags the dog. If you have a foundation willing to fund a particular kind of program, then an organization will write that kind of grant. Suddenly, you're doing a program to where the bucks are. Maybe that's not within the original mission of the mission.

Derived terms

• wag the dog

Translations

Translations

• Finnish: häntä heiluttaa koiraa

See also

• put the cart before the horse