from pillar to post
1
7.4
- idiom
- Informal
:
de un lado a otro
- I felt like I was being sent from pillar to post as I tried to get information about my lost luggage.
Examples
-
I've spent my life running from pillar to post.
-
Having been kicked from pillar to post for 90 minutes only to receive nothing, most players would be spitting blood, enraged and inconsolable.
Blog text (31) -
After my complaint was ignored, I was passed from pillar to post between various departments for hours.
-
During the renovation, we were shifted from pillar to post as the workers moved our furniture around.
Synonyms
Move quickly from place to place trying to solve many urgent problems
A person who is moved from one person or office to another without getting help
Antonyms
How Disorganized
- Informal
283
4.8
- Informal
1
7.4
138
1.7
374
2.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
The literal words 'from ... to ...' plus concrete nouns 'pillar' and 'post' do evoke movement between locations, so learners could guess some sense of being moved around. However the idiomatic nuance of being bounced around in a confused, disorganized, or difficult way (often implying mistreatment or helplessness) is not fully predictable from the constituents and typically requires exposure. Cross-linguistic equivalents exist but wording and pragmatic nuance vary, so this is only partially transparent.
Etymology
From pillar to post may come from the picture of someone being knocked or bounced between two strong supports, the pillar and the post, so they cannot stand still. That's why it now means 'being sent from place to place in a confused or unfair way'.