What does ‘Camel gets his nose under the tent’ mean?

Question

In the article of New York Times co-ed columnist, Maureen Dowd dealing with Republicans’ objection of the repeal of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ under the title, “Mad Men and Mad Women”, I came across an unfamiliar quote from Republican Representative (west Fla), Allen West - ‘like the camel getting his nose under the tent.”

Although, I guess the phrase means ‘poke and pry’ from the context of the following introductory sentence, correct me if I’m wrong. Is this the representative’s coinage, or established cliché? Can I use this phrase for a person who is curious?

“Republicans hate social engineering, unless they’re doing it. Wishing they had the power to repeal the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” and get back to the repressed “Mad Men” world they crave, some conservative lawmakers grumpily quizzed upbeat military brass on Friday. “We’re starting to try to conform the military to a behavior, and I remember going through the military, we took behaviors and we formed it to the military,” said Representative Allen West of Florida, warning ominously (and weirdly) that “this could be the camel getting his nose under the tent.”

Answer 1

The idiom is an allusion to a story that takes place in Arabia, with this metaphorical moral:

If the camel once gets his nose in the tent, his body will soon follow.

In view of this, the meaning of the phrase like the camel getting his nose under the tent is rather distinct from poking and prying. This phrase would also not be appropriate to describe someone who is sneaky.

In context of the paragraph, the phrase means that what is happening now could just the beginning of what will happen.

Answer 2

Though peter is factually correct, I don't think he is able to get the nuance of the story across correctly.

In the story, a man seeks shelter from a sandstorm in his tent but leaves his camel outside. The camel asks permission to put his nose in the tent, and the man gives it. The camel then progressively asks permission to put more and more of his body in the tent and finally the man has to leave the tent because his camel is taking all the space.

The moral of the story is "Don't allow even small malpractices, because they will grow big eventually." (The focus is on the "don't allow" part).

So the phrase means that what is happening is a mistake, which although small, should be stopped.

Answer 3

It's a common adage used in the Indo-Pak subcontinent, meaning if you give the camel room to fit his head in the tent, he would make space for his body himself.

If someone can get a part of his way, he would soon get the rest as well.

It is somewhat like a "foot in the door" usage.

Answer 4

Comparable English idioms:

• nip in the bud
• give an inch, take they'll take a mile
• An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure

Also see the broken window theory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broken_windows_theory

Clearly stated, if small transgressions are not addressed, they grow into massive problems that are difficult, if not impossible, to deal with.

Imagine allowing your lazy friend crash on the couch for free. "Just for one night," they say. Next thing you know they're semi-permanently in the guest room, in your fridge, in your liquor cabinet, playing video games all day while you're at work, inviting THEIR lazy friends over, stealing from you... and it's a big problem. You may even have to move.

In the same way, it's not so easy to move a nasty, spitting, biting, stubborn, half-ton animal. You may even have to take the tent down around the camel and move your location. What a hassle!

So, the minute that camel sticks its nose under the tent entrance, smack that nose, get it out, and prevent the whole mess. Tell the lazy friend to go back to sleep at their Mom's house.

Answer 5

In a cramped corner of an abandoned old building, three men had squeezed themselves in to escape from the heavy down pour outside. Rains intensified.Some more jostled into the shelter and the original occupants out of compassion allowed them in and in the end the three got completely dislodged.It is like the camel's nose being allowed in the tent.