Is there any English/American equivalent for the Hungarian phrase "beating the nettle with someone else's penis"?
I am trying to translate this comically vulgar Hungarian phrase, often (but not exclusively) used in a political context. It means to make someone else carry out one's rash or risky ideas, usually for the person's own benefit. So, for instance, when the issue emerges of how US economic sanctions on Russia hurt the local economy or jeopardize local gas supplies, Hungarians may say something like "Uncle Sam has chosen to beat the nettle with someone else's penis/dick". It is also used as an interjection: "Don't beat it with mine...!", or euphemised. Can you think of any matching idiom or vague equivalent? Thanks in advance.
It lacks the comedy and the vulgarity of the original, but I think the phrase "writing checks on someone else's account" gets at the core of the idea you're trying to express. For instance
"Uncle Sam has chosen to write his checks on Hungary's account."
I'm not exactly sure of the context of the idiom you quote, but I take it to mean that you use someone else to do the morally questionable or particularly difficult deeds that you need done.
Dirty work is often used to express that some particular activity is morally questionable. To mimic your example, Uncle Sam has gotten someone else to do his dirty work. Sometimes, dirty work can be used to mean the very difficult work that is messy (sometimes literally, but figuratively could mean disorderly), but is necessary to accomplish some goal.
Bitch work or grunt work is a similar expression. It is often used to indicate the lowly work that servants would do. Things like cleaning the toilet, scrubbing the floor, etc. It does not particularly relate to your example, but I thought it was worth mentioning.
The answer suggesting "Cat's paw" reminds me of the word tool. The word tool is often used in slang terms to describe a person that is being used and doesn't even know it. See this related post. In your example, the "someone else" might be described as a tool. Often, you will see this word used to describe a single person, not typically a nation, society, or other group.
There is an idiomatic phrase that conveys this idea and has the metaphoric similarity:
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to make a cat's paw of someone
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or use someone as a cat's paw
It is more commonly used as just cat's paw in the relevant context. (especially political contexts)
And here is a related phrase but from the viewpoint of the cat's paw:
- pull someone's chestnuts out of the fire
The Monkey and the Cat by Abraham Hondius
Cat's paw and related phrases are derived from the fable The Monkey and the Cat adapted by La Fontaine.
There are popular idioms derived from it in both English and French with the general meaning of being the dupe of another (e.g., a cat's-paw). Usage of these and reference to the fable have been particularly employed in (although not limited to) political contexts.
The Monkey and the Cat / Wikipedia
Cat's paw is a person used by another as a dupe or tool and if you make a cat's paw of someone or if you use someone as a cat's paw, you use this person for your selfish purposes (which implies dirty and risky jobs depending on the context). If you pull someone's chestnuts out of fire, you do the dirty work for someone else.
cat's paw
You always try to make a cat's paw of me, but I refuse to do any more of your work.
This term alludes to a very old tale about a monkey that persuades a cat to pull chestnuts out of the fire so as to avoid burning its own paws. The story dates from the 16th century and versions of it (some with a dog) exist in many languages. [TFD]
pull someone's chestnuts out of the fire
to do a dangerous, hard, or unpleasant thing for someone else [Collins]
Succeed in a hazardous undertaking for someone else’s benefit. [OD]
Note: The main reason I gave this answer was to match the metaphoric imagery and usage in political context. Of course there are more common idioms that convey the same idea in general but Hungarian language can have too. The question is not simply asking any idiom that conveys "using someone" and this amazing Hungarian metaphor makes it unique.
Example usages from news articles and reviews:
After moving on from serving as Uncle Sam’s cat’s paw, he found himself in Abu Dhabi in 2011, where he began working with the United Arab Emirates to build, in the words of The New York Times, an 800-man “secret American-led mercenary army,”...
Erik Prince: America’s Harbinger Of Death, And Democracy?
And as if we do not have our hands full in the Middle East, the US military looks west to the South China Sea for relevance, i.e., future conflicts. If that fails, our aging cold war apparatchiks, using NATO cat's paw, are renewing a cold war with Russia.
American Journey From Terror to Peace, 9/11 to 11/11
Historically, Korea has always been a cat’s-paw in the world’s power games among China, Japan, and a Johnny-come-lately Uncle Sam in Asia Pacific region. And Koreans used to call the Korean Peninsula, ‘a shrimp whose back gets broken in the fight between Whales.’
An Idiot’s Guide to a “State of War” in the Korean Peninsula
An example usage from the book "The Pacific War Papers" By Donald M. Goldstein (2004):
The Government authorities, too, seem to be trying to make a cat's paw of other countries as much as possible and, if unavoidable, to appear on the final scene to win victory. Consequently they assume the attitude of not minding the continuation of war for five to ten years. Though they are supporting the Soviet Union at present, it is only to make a cat's paw of her, and not because they are friendly to Communist Russia.