tail wagging the dog



tail wagging the dog

a situation where a small part is controlling the whole of something. John was just hired yesterday, and today he's bossing everyone around. It's a case of the tail wagging the dog. Why is this small matter taking so much time? Now it's the tail wagging the dog!
See also: dog, tail, wag

Common Names:

NameGenderPronouncedUsage
ThorbjØRn-Norwegian
Itala-Italian
Salah Al-Din-Arabic
Zikmund-Czech
KennedyKEN-ə-deeEnglish, Irish
SÉBastienne-French