英语词汇wild-goose chase的起源、历史背景-英语词源词典

wild-goose chase. Englishmen in the late 16th century in- vented a kind of horse race called the wild-goose chase in which the lead horse could go off in any direction and the succeeding horses had to follow accurately the course of the leader at precise intervals, like wild geese following the leader in formation. At first the phrase wild-goose chase figu- ratively meant an erratic course taken by one person and fol- lowed by another; Shakespeare used it in this sense. But later the common term’s origins were forgotten and a wild-goose chase came to mean “a pursuit of anything as unlikely to be caught as a wild goose,” any foolish, fruitless, or hopeless quest.

词汇	wild-goose chase
词源	wild-goose chase. Englishmen in the late 16th century in- vented a kind of horse race called the wild-goose chase in which the lead horse could go off in any direction and the succeeding horses had to follow accurately the course of the leader at precise intervals, like wild geese following the leader in formation. At first the phrase wild-goose chase figu- ratively meant an erratic course taken by one person and fol- lowed by another; Shakespeare used it in this sense. But later the common term’s origins were forgotten and a wild-goose chase came to mean “a pursuit of anything as unlikely to be caught as a wild goose,” any foolish, fruitless, or hopeless quest.
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