IdiomAnimals
English
Englishwild-goose chase
Meaning: A useless or difficult search.
Example: “The directions sent us on a wild-goose chase around the old town.”
Equivalents in other languages
Icelandic: Að fara í geitarhús að leita ullar Literally: To go to the goat shed looking for wool
Origin: This expression is first recorded in Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet, and at that time actually referred to horse racing, not birds as the as the phrase might imply. In horse racing a wild-goose chase was a type of racing where the horses run in a V-like formation, similar to the way birds fly. Later, the connection to horse racing was lost in use, and people assumed the phrase came from flying geese.
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