اصطلاح a wild goose chase

Wild goose chase

Narrator It was early in the evening. William Shakespeare is at home. He’s expecting a visit from his actor friend Robert Harley.

Robert Harley Good evening, Mr Shakespeare.

Will Welcome, welcome Robert! Come in.

Daughter Good evening Mister Harley…

Robert Harley Miss Shakespeare… I’m sorry I’m late - I was out horse riding. It was wonderful - so fast, so exciting!

Will Ahhh, the wild-goose chase ! Take care when you race that way young Robert, we don’t want to spoil those good looks of yours…

Daughter Why is it called a wild-goose chase ? It’s a horse race! They’re not chasing geese!

Will Dear daughter, a wild-goose chase is indeed a kind of horse race. The riders have to follow one horse, keeping up with him wherever he goes, just as wild geese follow the leader when they fly.

Daughter Ohhh… I expect you kept up with him very well, Robert…!

Will Thank you, daughter. Now to the play: Romeo and Juliet. Robert, you are playing Mercutio, Romeo’s best friend. In this scene, there is a different kind of wild-goose chase . This chase is all about words and jokes. Mercutio and Romeo are competing with each other: each of them trying to tell the cleverest and funniest jokes.

Robert A competition of intelligence, of wits and quick thinking!

Daughter Mercutio will win, won’t he!? He is handsome - and clever!

Will Mercutio is indeed quick-witted, but Romeo is better - much better, and Mercutio knows it - so he gives up this wild-goose chase before it even starts, saying: Nay, if thy wits run the wild-goose chase…

Robert as Mercutio Nay, if thy wits run the wild-goose chase, I have done, for thou hast more of the wild goose in one of thy wits than, I am sure, I have in my whole five.

Narrator We’ll leave them there for now. Romeo and Juliet is a play about young love, but it also has lots of fighting, with both weapons and words. Here, Shakespeare compares Romeo and Mercutio’s duelling with words to a wild and dangerous horse race, called a wild-goose chase. In modern English, a wild-goose chase isn’t about horses, or geese: it describes a situation where you foolishly chase after something that is impossible to get - or doesn’t exist at all. Take US writer Bryant McGill, who said:

Clip 1 Endless consumerism sends us on a wild-goose chase for happiness through materialism.

Clip 2 We looked for the restaurant for hours, but it was a wild-goose chase : turned out that it closed down years ago!

Robert So, no wild-goose chase for Mercutio.

Daughter You could chase me, though Robert…

Robert Oh dear… to chase, or not to chase: that really isn’t a question.