The Camel’s Nose

Definition

The Camel’s Nose is a metaphor used to describe a situation where a small, slightly unacceptable situation is permitted, thereby opening the door for continual worsening, until it eventually slides into an out-of-control and undesirable situation.

Other expressions of the same ilk includes “give them an inch and they’ll take a mile”, “domino effect” and “slippery slope”.

Camel’s Nose is very similar to “Boiling Frog”, but they are different. Camel’s Nose refers to small liberties giving way to a gradual worsening situation. Boiling Frog is allowing something to happen slowly enough so that the impact isn’t noticed at all.

In addition, Camel’s Nose always results in a gradual worsening situation. A Boiling Frog on the other hand, while often used in the negative sense, can also result in positive outcomes.

You will of course come across situations that could be described as both a Camel’s Nose and a Boiling Frog.

Here are some examples of Camel’s Nose:

You lend a friend a dime one day. They return the next day to borrow a dollar. Then a slightly higher amount the following week, and so on, until one day you realize they owe you thousands of dollars, and somehow you’ve become their personal bank account.

A company is undergoing financial difficulty and declares they can’t pay you for your services that week. You accept the situation (given the circumstances) and continue to work for the company on the promise that you will be paid next month. Over time the company continues to fail to pay for work supplied, until you finally realise you are owed for months, which you will never see.

Gradual erosion of civil liberties:

The compulsory taking of fingerprints at some international airports (recently moved to domestic airports in the UK, plus a head photograph of each passenger) is criticized as a step towards the gradual erosion of a person’s right to privacy.

Similarly, others claim that the “acceptable” removal of civil liberties from prisoners at Guantanamo Bay (such as the right to a fair trial) is the start of gradual erosion of basic human rights for every person. If we allow civil liberties to be legally taken away from someone in *certain environments*, we are setting up the environment for more such “legal” removals over time, and if so, who decides what is acceptable and where does it end?

Whether these are examples of a Camel’s Nose in action remains to be seen…

In Marketing and Business:

A Camel’s Nose in may be found in situations where companies manipulate customers over time by promising one thing, and then failing to deliver those promises another under a flurry of excuses.

For example, you set up a contract with a company whereby they promise you certain services in exchange for your monthly fee. Over time, they stop delivering on certain aspects of the original promise or change a part of the offering. By allowing the company to deviate from their original promising, you are setting the scene for them to completely change their promised services over time, until you no longer have the services you were promised and have been paying for.