# Wild Goose Chase **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 3, 2000, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wild-goose-chase/39538 "2000-11-03T13:37:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Stimpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/779978/32.png) [@Stimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stimpy)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2000, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wild-goose-chase/39538/1 "2000-11-03T13:37:49Z")
I need a bunch of terms that mean that someone has been sent down the wrong track. Equally, anything that is similar to ‘close, but no cigar’… can anyone help? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2000, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wild-goose-chase/39538/2 "2000-11-03T13:48:05Z")
Wild goose chases, eh? How about… Snipe hunt Barking up the wrong tree That dog don’t hunt Red herring ---
**Author:** ![Many\_Crows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Many\_Crows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Many_Crows)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2000, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wild-goose-chase/39538/3 "2000-11-03T14:01:57Z")
peeing in the wind K. =^…^= …" "… ---
**Author:** ![scratch1300](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dfb087/32.png) [@scratch1300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scratch1300)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2000, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wild-goose-chase/39538/4 "2000-11-03T14:04:04Z")
Being sent on a “sleeveless errand” is an old-fashioned phrase for this. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2000, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wild-goose-chase/39538/5 "2000-11-03T14:28:40Z")
Led down the primrose path. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2000, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wild-goose-chase/39538/6 "2000-11-03T14:42:23Z")
Pissing up a rope. Stepping on his own dick. Note: These two cannot be done at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2000, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wild-goose-chase/39538/7 "2000-11-03T16:52:52Z")
Sent down the wrong track. Derailed and sidetracked. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2000, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wild-goose-chase/39538/8 "2000-11-03T17:00:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kim \* > peeing in the wind Surely this means stubbornly doing something doomed to fail, rather than being mislead? Wild goose chase = being sent on a fool’s errand ---
**Author:** ![Many\_Crows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Many\_Crows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Many_Crows)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2000, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wild-goose-chase/39538/9 "2000-11-03T17:07:40Z")
I was thinking along the lines of futility. K. ---
**Author:** ![Stimpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/779978/32.png) [@Stimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stimpy)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2000, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wild-goose-chase/39538/10 "2000-11-03T17:11:20Z")
all very useful, thanks. but any 'close but no cigar’isms… and what does this mean anyway? is it the fact that you are rewarded with a cigar if you succeed, like making babies?? ---
**Author:** ![scratch1300](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dfb087/32.png) [@scratch1300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scratch1300)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2000, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wild-goose-chase/39538/11 "2000-11-03T17:20:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Stimpy \* > \*\*all very useful, thanks. but any 'close but no cigar’isms… and what does this mean anyway? is it the fact that you are rewarded with a cigar if you succeed, like making babies?? \*\* Old carnival stuff. They used to award them as prizes. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2000, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wild-goose-chase/39538/12 "2000-11-03T18:09:34Z")
Being given a bum steer. Sent to the wrong bus-stop. White-washing coal. ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2000, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wild-goose-chase/39538/13 "2000-11-03T23:43:00Z")
Looking in the wrong forum. Off to IMHO.