Fool's errand Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
This article gives a definition and examples for the term "Fool's Errand". There is also a videogame bearing that name.A fool's errand is an activity or task that serves no practical purpose. While the term is often used to refer to the practice of a practical joke requesting a person to perform tasks that would expose them to humiliation, frustration or as part of an initiation rite or sorts, a fool's errand can also refer to having to do something that turned out to be totally unnecessary without any sinister purpose.
Examples of initiation rites which would be considered fool's errands are:
- Being sent for a "left-handed screwdriver" or left-handed monkeywrench
- Being sent for a can of striped or polka-dot paint
- Being sent for a "long weight" ('long wait' - get it?)
- Being sent for a tube of elbow grease.
- Being sent for a "left-handed smoke-shifter" (Used in the Boy Scouts of America)
- Being sent for a bucket of gas to help start a fire- the bucket has to be held upside down to prevent that "gas" (actually just plain air) escaping.
- Being sent for headlamp fluid.
The traditional example in Germany is the Siemens Lufthaken (Siemens air hook). Unfortunately, Siemens has failed so far to actually supply this useful type of hook that can be affixed to thin air.
A common example of a fool's errand that is not a practical joke would be an example of a host going to pick up someone coming to visit them who is at a transport terminal such as a train station, bus terminal or airport, only to discover the person who was supposed to be picked up did not know they were coming and took transportation directly themselves.