wild goose chase
idiom

- a search which is completely unsuccessful and a waste of time because the person or thing being searched for does not exist or is somewhere else

(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)

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ORIGIN

This expression has been used since the 16th century and was first recorded in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Surprisingly, a wild goose chase actually has nothing to do with wild geese, despite the name.

The term refers to a type of horse race popular in England in the 16th century. In a wild goose chase, the pack of horses would follow a leader, often adopting a formation which loosely resembled a flock of geese. These were extremely challenging races. Spectators often commented that it was difficult to predict the outcome of a wild goose chase, let alone profit from it.

Shakespeare used the phrase in a metaphorical sense, referring to one of Romeo's crazy plans as a "wild goose chase," meaning that Romeo was embarking on an adventure that was likely to prove futile. As often happened with colorful words and idioms in Shakespeare's work, the expression was picked up by the general population.

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Other common phrases using goose are:

- to cook someone's goose = if you cook someone's goose, you do something that spoils their plans and prevents them from succeeding
 
- kill the goose that lays the golden egg = to destroy something that makes a lot of money

- wouldn't say boo to a goose = if someone wouldn't say boo to a goose, they are shy and nervous

- as silly as a goose = very foolish, very silly -kuş beyinli- He is as silly as a goose

goose bumps = a prickly or bumpy feeling on one's skin because of cold/fear/excitement (like the skin of a goose or chicken)

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Practice OWAD in a conversation today

Say something like:

"Before embarking on A WILD-GOOSE CHASE for a good lawyer, let's ask our WhatsApp group if they can recommend one."