wild-goose chase
22
6.6
- noun
- /ˈwaɪldˌɡus ˈtʃeɪs/
- Informal
:
búsqueda inútil
- Rush Limbaugh claims that "Gore is sending our young men and women off on a wild goose chase."
- go on a wild-goose chase
- just a wild-goose chase
- sent on a wild-goose chase
And thus began a wild goose chase.
- And thus began a wild goose chase.
- I think that, yeah, I object to this, this wild goose chase.
- They stole his first term with that wild goose chase based on the Clinton campaign's baseless lies.
Examples
-
He realized the project was just a wild-goose chase after weeks of fruitless effort.
-
Meredith looked at her friend and said quietly, "This is a wild-goose chase."
Fiction book (1996) -
This is not a wild goose chase, is it?
-
This best not be some wild goose chase.
-
We're going on a wild goose chase!
-
"I think you sent me on this wild goose chase so it would be impossible for me to return."
Fiction book (2001) -
Perhaps I will have saved someone else from going on a wild goose chase.
Blog text (5) -
I'm telling you, we're on a wild goose chase.
-
Looks like he's led us on another wild goose chase.
-
If I'm really looking for the jewel, I'm now on a wild goose chase.
Blog text (9)
Synonyms
39
4.9
Something that has no chance of success
12
7.2
A task that has no chance of success
4
6.2
A plan that leads nowhere and cannot succeed
1
4.4
An attempt that does not get what you want
1
9.9
A prank that sends someone to look for something that does not exist
1
9.9
A risky attempt that is very unlikely to succeed
How Fruitless
- Archaic
1
9.9
- Informal
12
7.2
- Informal
22
6.6
328
4.7
∞
1.0
∞
2.9
Surface Forms
Morphology
wild-goose + chase
The components 'wild-goose' (a wild bird difficult to catch) plus 'chase' (pursuit) give a plausible literal image of a futile pursuit, so a learner who knows the words might infer the general idea of a pointless search. However, the conventionalized idiomatic extension to any hopeless or pointless task is not strictly compositional and relies on cultural usage, so comprehension is not fully predictable for a B1 learner without prior exposure.
Etymology
The idiom wild-goose chase comes from the image of hunters trying to catch wild geese that fly fast and change direction, so the hunters run after them without success. So, the phrase means 'a hopeless or pointless search'.