What is Fool's Errand?
1.
Sent to or set out on a task which ultimately has no purpose or likelihood of success.
Discovering as much.
"Damn, we drove all the way to Jackies place only to find she'd gone down to ours!"
2.
A task which is widely known to be unwise, yet is carried out against a person's better judgement.
He went to her house to tell her he loved her, even though her husband was home. It was a fool's errand.
See
3.
The awesomest puzzle game ever made. I used to have it on my old black-and-white mac. You solve various puzzles based upon the Tarot cards. See fools-errand for more details. You will not be disappointed, but you will lose a lot of sleep, as it's addictive.
The sequel to The Fool's Errand, A Fool and His Money, is coming out this April, seventeen years since the original. I hope the wait was worth it.
4.
special task for the uninformed new worker to a job
Get me the keys to the sea chest
Get me some prop wash
I need some relative bearing grease
Hand me a left handed spanner wrench
I'm gonna need a horse ladder
Me thinks me need a flannel hammer
I'm gonna need a rubber hammer for glass nails
See
5.
A special errand given to new employees.
The new lab technician was sent ten floors to the basement store to get a bucketful of benzene rings.
Storeman: What kind would you like? Ortho, Meta, Para?
Technician: Er, dunno.
Storeman: You need to go back upstairs and ask your boss...
See
6.
Screwing an ugly wife/husband/lover.
Man 1: Yo why you so down?
Man 2: I ran a fool's errand last night.
Man 1: Is she that ugly?
Man 2: Damn that bitch is ugly.
