WILD GOOSE CHASE

  

Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.

WILD GOOSE CHASE

Definition: WILD GOOSE CHASE

WILD GOOSE CHASE

1. The pursuit of something unattainable, or of something as unlikely to be caught as the wild goose. --Shak.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 


Synonyms within Context: WILD GOOSE CHASE

ContextSynonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus).

Inutility

Noun: inutility; uselessness; Adjective: inefficacy, futility; ineptitude, inaptitude; unsubservience; inadequacy; (insufficiency); inefficiency.; (incompetence); unskillfulness; disservice; unfruitfulness;(unproductiveness).; labor in vain, labor lost, labor of Sisyphus; lost trouble, lost labor; work of Penelope; sleeveless errand, wild goose chase, mere farce.

Unskillfulness

Cut blocks with a razor; hold a farthing candle to the sun; (useless); fight with a shadow, grasp at a shadow; catch at straws, lean on a broken reed, reckon without one's host, pursue a wild goose chase; go on a fool's goose chase, sleeveless errand; go further and fare worse; lose one's way, miss one's way; fail.

Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus.

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Modern Usage: WILD GOOSE CHASE

DomainUsage

Screenplays

Who should you bring on a wild goose chase but a goose? (Balto; writing credit: David Cohen; Elana Lesser)

Movie/TV Titles

Wild Goose Chase (1932)

A Wild Goose Chase (1919)

The Wild Goose Chase (1915)

Wild Goose Chase (1991)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Commercial Usage: WILD GOOSE CHASE

DomainTitle

Books

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Expressions: WILD GOOSE CHASE

Expressions using "WILD GOOSE CHASE": A wild goose chase go on a wild goose chase send off on a wild goose chase. Additional references.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Frequency of Internet Keywords: WILD GOOSE CHASE

The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com.
 
ExpressionFrequency
per Day

wild goose chase

14
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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Modern Translation: WILD GOOSE CHASE

Language Translations for "WILD GOOSE CHASE"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.

Albanian

  

ndjekje e kotë. (various references)

   

Arabic 

  

‏حملة ميئوس منها. (various references)

   

Bulgarian 

  

глупаво търсене, безнадеждна работа, безплодно търсене. (various references)

   

French

  

courir partout comme fou (send off on a wild goose chase). (various references)

   

Hebrew 

  

מבצע חסר תקו". (various references)

   

Hungarian

  

hiábavaló fáradozás. (various references)

   

Pig Latin

  

ildway oosegay asechay

   

Romanian

  

umbla dupã potcoave de cai morţi (go on a wild goose chase). (various references)

   

Turkish

  

olmayacak şeyin peşinden koşma. (various references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

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Ancestral Language Translations: WILD GOOSE CHASE

LanguagePeriodTranslations
Latin500 BCE-Modern

Avena fatua, Dioscorea villosa, Equus asinus, Sus cristatus, Sus scrofa. (various references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

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Anagrams: WILD GOOSE CHASE

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

Words within the letters "a-c-d-e-e-g-h-i-l-o-o-s-s-w"

-4 letters: logaoedics.

-5 letters: coalsheds, cogwheels, ecologies, eschewals, geodesics, lacewoods, locoweeds, logaoedic, shoelaces, showcased, solecised, solidagos, woolsheds.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

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INDEX

1. Definition
2. Usage: Modern
3. Usage: Commercial
4. Expressions
5. Expressions: Internet
6. Translations: Modern
7. Translations: Ancient
8. Anagrams
9. Bibliography


  

Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.