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A “wild goose chase” was a race in which horses followed a lead horse at a set distance, that looked like wild geese flying in formation. Gervase Markham published an equestrian instructional manual: A Discourse of Horsmanshippe, in 1593, shortly before Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet, in which he described the rules of the race.
Aug 8, 2018 · The phrase wild-goose chase denotes an absurd or hopeless pursuit. But its original sense was entirely different; it was defined as follows in The Century Dictionary ( New York, 1904): a kind of horse-race, in which two horses were started together, the rider who gained the lead forcing the other to follow him wherever he chose to go.
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This phrase is old and appears to be one of the many phrases introduced to the language by Shakespeare. The first recorded citation is from Romeo and Juliet, 1592:
Our current use of the phrase alludes to an undertaking which will probably prove to be fruitless - and it's hard to imagine anything more doomed to failure than an attempt to catch a wild goose by chasing after it. Our understanding of the term differs from that in use in Shakespeare's day. The earlier meaning related not to hunting but to horse r...
That meaning had been lost by the 19th century. In Grose's Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, 1811, he defines the term much the way we do today:
The 1978 film 'The Wild Geese' alluded to the phrase in its title. This refers back to Irish mercenaries who 'flew' from Ireland to serve in various European armies in the 16th to 18th centuries. The plot of the film involved a group of mercenaries embarking on a near-impossible mission. Of course, the near-impossible is no problem for action heroe...
- "WILD GOOSE CHASE" // ROMEO AND JULIET, ACT II, SCENE IV. "Nay, if our wits run the wild-goose chase, I am done, for thou hast more of the wild-goose in one of thy wits than, I am sure, I have in my whole five.
- "GREEN-EYED MONSTER" // OTHELLO, ACT III, SCENE III. "O, beware, my lord, of jealousy! It is the green-eyed monster, which doth mock the meat it feeds on."
- "PURE AS THE DRIVEN SNOW" // HAMLET, ACT III, SCENE I AND THE WINTER'S TALE, ACT IV, SCENE IV. "Be thou as chaste as ice, as pure as snow, thou shalt not escape calumny.
- "SEEN BETTER DAYS" // AS YOU LIKE IT, ACT II, SCENE VII. "True is it that we have seen better days and have with holy bell been knolled to church, and sat at good men's feasts and wiped our eyes of drops that sacred pity hath engendered."
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In Romeo and Juliet, Mercutio likens the rapid exchange of jokes between Romeo and himself to the cross-country horse race of Shakespeare's time, known as the wild goose chase, in which any number of riders tried to keep up with and accurately follow the lead rider's course: "Nay, if our wits run the wild-goose chase, I am done; for thou / hast ...
Mar 19, 2024 · When to Use This Idiom. Use “wild goose chase” to describe situations like these: Unproductive Searches: “Looking for my lost car keys in the park turned into a wild goose chase.”. Confusing Projects: “That research project lacked clear direction and felt like a wild goose chase.”. Unreliable Leads: “Chasing that hot investment ...
The Origin Of ‘Wild Goose Chase’. It’s believed that this phrase’s origin is rooted in some type of 16th century horse racing. Apparently, back then, a ‘wild goose chase’ was a horse race in which the lead rider would be pursued by other riders, which is said to be similar to how geese flying in a formation will follow the one in ...
