Idiom
Wild goose chase
A wild goose chase is a long, useless search or effort for something that is hard or impossible to find or get.
How people use it
People usually say someone was sent on or led on a wild goose chase, often by bad directions or false information: the map sent us on a wild goose chase across town. It stresses wasted time and frustration. It can be hyphenated (a wild-goose chase), and dictionaries show both forms. The tone is informal and a bit exasperated.
Also said: wild-goose chase.
Examples
- The old address sent us on a wild goose chase through three neighborhoods.
- Looking for that rare part without a model number was a wild-goose chase.
- Don't send the new intern on a wild goose chase for files that don't exist.
Where it comes from
Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet (mid-1590s) has the earliest known use, when Mercutio jokes about a contest of wits running the wild-goose chase. Back then it named a kind of horse race in which riders had to follow the leader at set distances, like geese flying in formation. Over time the meaning shifted to any hopeless or pointless pursuit.
Check yourself
1. What is a wild goose chase?
Answer: A pointless search. It means a long, useless effort to find or get something.
2. Which sentence uses the idiom correctly?
Answer: The fake ad led buyers on a wild goose chase for a sale that didn't exist.. The idiom means wasted effort, so finding something right away does not fit.
Similar idioms
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