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the tail that wags the dog

Spanish translation: la cola que menea al perro

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GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

English term or phrase:	the tail that wags the dog
Spanish translation:	la cola que menea al perro
Entered by:	George Rabel

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11:18 Jun 16, 2004

English to Spanish translations [PRO]
Bus/Financial - Computers (general)

English term or phrase: the tail that wags the dog

¿Cuál es el significado de esta frase hecha?
La he encontrado en una presentación sobre los costes del software de IBM.

Muchas gracias a todos por adelantado

Cristina Lazaro KudoZ activity Questions: 55 (none open) (1 closed without grading) Answers: 39
Local time: 11:28

la cola que menea al perro

Explanation:
me parece que los perros "menean" la cola.
Aquí en estos enlaces verás como se utiliza la frase

campañas-contra la guerra-palestina-israel-escojan una tarjeta - [ Translate this page ]
... Algunas personas comparan a los colonos con "la cola que menea el perro
", creen que esta pequeña minoría impone su voluntad al gobierno. ...
www.nodo50.org/moc-carabanchel/campa�as/ contra_la_guerra/palestina_israel/tarjetas.htm - 15k -

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
http://www.supercable.es/~antonio90/anton5.htm

Es el perro el que menea el rabo, y no podemos quedarnos fijados en la cola creyendo que es ésta la que menea al perro.

¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨

... la cola puede menear al perro. Si has estado pensando que las condiciones externas
son más fuertes que tú, repite muchas veces. "El rabo menea al perro", e ...
foro.univision.com/.../message?board.id=duelo& message.id=1857&view=by_date_ascending&page=2 - 83k

Selected response from:

George Rabel
Local time: 05:28

Grading comment

muchas gracias a todos los que han contestado.
Saludos
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

5 +5

es la cola la que mueve al perro (en lugar de que el perro mueva la cola)

BAmary

5 +1

el mundo al revés

Alejandro Umerez

5 +1

la cola que mueve al perro

MPTierno

los que deberían obedecer...

franliaci

see "Wag the Dog", the movie

agtranslat

cuando la cola agita el perro

alan543

la cola que menea al perro

George Rabel

Answers

17 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +5

es la cola la que mueve al perro (en lugar de que el perro mueva la cola)

Explanation:
Saludos

BAmary
Local time: 05:28
Works in field
Native speaker of:

Spanish

23 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

la cola que mueve al perro

Explanation:
Ver: http://www.proz.com/kudoz/678958

Se utiliza cuando, contrariamente a lo que podría pensarse, es una parte pequeña o supuestamente poco importante la que tiene el poder o controla a la grande.
Creo que no existe una frase hecha que exprese exactamente lo que el original quiere decir, pero podrías utilizar algo así como "quien realmente tiene la sartén por el mango" (a pesar de lo que podría parecer). Es una idea.

Ver: www.proz.com/kudoz/678958

MPTierno
Local time: 11:28
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

Spanish,

Catalan

2 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

el mundo al revés

Explanation:
Creo que eso es lo que quiere decir. Posiblemante hay otros dichos que describan el significado, mejor que este.

Alejandro Umerez
Local time: 04:58
Works in field
Native speaker of: Spanish
PRO pts in category: 43

3 hrs confidence:

la cola que menea al perro

George Rabel
Local time: 05:28
Works in field
Native speaker of:

Spanish
PRO pts in category: 38

Grading comment

muchas gracias a todos los que han contestado.
Saludos

4 hrs confidence:

los que deberían obedecer...

Explanation:
para evitar confusiones con este idiom, sería bueno aclarar su significado:
"los que deberían obedecer, dirigen" // "el que debería obedecer, dirige"

Espero te sirva.

franliaci
Argentina
Local time: 06:28
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

Spanish

4 hrs confidence:

see "Wag the Dog", the movie

Explanation:
¿No viste la película? Es una buena ilustración de la frase.

Wag the Dog (1997)
Wag the Dog (1997) - Cast, Crew, Reviews, Plot Summary, Comments, Discussion, Taglines,
Trailers, Posters, Photos, Showtimes, Link to Official Site, Fan Sites. ...
www.imdb.com/Title?0120885 - 43k - Cached - Similar pages

www.imdb.com/Title?Wag the Dog (1997)
Similar pages
[ More results from www.imdb.com ]

Amazon.com: DVD: Wag the Dog - New Line Platinum Series (1997)
Wag the Dog - New Line Platinum Series, Barry Levinson, Dustin Hoffman, Robert
De Niro, Anne Heche, Denis Leary, Willie Nelson, Andrea Martin, Kirsten Dunst ...
www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ tg/detail/-/0780622561?v=glance - 65k - Cached - Similar pages

Amazon.com: Music: Wag The Dog [SOUNDTRACK]
... Subscribe to music magazines today. Visit the DVD Store Wag the Dog - New Line
Platinum Series DVD ~ Dustin Hoffman. ... 1. Wag the Dog, 2. Working on It, ...
www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ tg/detail/-/B000001EYM?v=glance - 75k - Cached - Similar pages
[ More results from www.amazon.com ]

Wag the Dog
Wag the Dog. ... If the tail was smarter, it would wag the dog.'' In the Breanian universe,
the tail is smarter, and we, dear readers, are invited to be the dogs. ...
www.suntimes.com/ebert/ ebert_reviews/1998/01/010201.html - 32k - Cached - Similar pages

Wag The Dog
Robert DeNiro and Dustin Hoffman lead an all-star cast in Barry Levinson's
Wag The Dog. Written by Hilary Henkin and David Mamet ...
www.newline.com/sites/wagthedog/ - 6k - Cached - Similar pages

agtranslat
Netherlands
Local time: 11:28
Native speaker of:

Spanish

11 hrs confidence:

cuando la cola agita el perro

Explanation:
significa más o menos que el efecto influyo en la persona, no que la persona causa un efecto

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 11 hrs 37 mins (2004-06-16 22:56:39 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

cuando la cola agita al perro, digo

alan543
Local time: 10:28
Works in field
Native speaker of:

English,

Spanish

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the tail that wags the dog

Spanish translation: la cola que menea al perro

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the tail that wags the dog

Spanish translation: la cola que menea al perro

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KudoZ™ translation helpThe KudoZ network provides a framework for translators and others to assist each other with translations or explanations of terms and short phrases.

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The KudoZ network provides a framework for translators and others to assist each other with translations or explanations of terms and short phrases.