a wild goose chase

基本解释

The boss sent me on a wild goose chase that wasted half the day.
老板给了我一项成功无望的任务，浪费了我大半天的时间。
baike.ef.com.cn
The Afghan strategy review has been too public and taken too long; the Middle East peace hunt has become a wild goose chase.
阿富汗战略回顾过于高调并耗时过长，寻求中东和平的努力变得徒劳无功。
You're led on a wild goose chase if you look for an apartment in the papers.
如果你指望通过报纸找到公寓，那是白费劲。

Orlando is still after Angelica, but with Alcina's help, he's sent off on a wild goose chase.
NPR: Love And Lunacy: Vivaldi's 'Orlando Furioso'
For half an hour, Rousselot walked around in the vicinity, wondering if the woman who lived with Morini had sent him on a wild goose chase, until eventually he began to feel tired and headed for the port.
NEWYORKER: Álvaro Rousselot’s Journey
Richter's diary recounts how Elgar told him that there was no thematic link to the variations, but that since they were finished on April 1st, Elgar had resolved to start a wild goose chase by pretending that there was.
ECONOMIST: Historical mendacity: Japes of the great