What does the phrase 'Tiger by the tail' really mean?
by 
Suby the Coat
ANSWERS: 14
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To have bested someone by mastering or at least grasping their weaknesses. I believe Little Black Sambo did that. Or was that Mowgli? :)
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I don't know but I dig the song by that name by Rick Springfield.
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To have a tiger by the tail means that you have taken hold of a very dangerous thing that has teeth, claws and other dangers in it that can hurt you. I am speeking figuratively, but you have a hold of it and you cannot let go without getting hurt. Yet, the longer you hold on, the harder things are and the greater the danger.
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It means you are about to be dead meat. Your holding on to the Tiger's tail with a death grip is just prolonging the inevitable. The US had the "Tiger by the tail" in Vietnam for thirteen years. Get the picture? We won every battle, at least the grunts did, but we lost the war. We had to let go of the Tiger's tail. It was a laughable and humorous thing to all other countries, even to some of our presumed "allies". It was not funny to the grunts who had to play the game by the rules their own government had given them. I made a list once of friends I lost during that farce, beginning with kids I had known since childhood, plus all I lost that I had only known for a few months. It is a very long list. I have unhealed scars and unforgiven hatreds even yet. And all the hatreds are not for the "enemy".
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The early bird catches the worm.
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What do you think would happen to you if you caught a tiger that way?
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Conquer the beast.
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Kind of a cross between a Mexican Standoff and Hoisting yourself on Your Own Petard.
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Possibly that you bit off more than you bargained for and the chewing is not going well. :)
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The way I have always understood it it means to be in a situation where you may not be able to manage much longer without help, but to give up now would be disastrous....
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It means you're stuck in a situation where you want to stop but can't. If you let go the tiger will turn and eat you. If you hold on you can't do anything else. Reminds me of the arms race between the US and USSR in the cold war. They couldn't stop building bigger weapons but it cost phenomenal amounts of money for both sides to do so. Of course I don't recommend anyone trying this literally - tigers are more flexible than whoever thought of this metaphor was aware of.
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flaunting or tempting dnager
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Just try to maneuver yourself behind one. Then you'll know.
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DON'T let go. No matter how bad you think your situation is, there are TEETH on the other end. You don't know the future. You could get dragged past a hunter and end up okay. But if you let go, it's game over.
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