A fool's errand is a task that cannot be accomplished because of fate or because it is a joke. It comes mainly in two varieties: trying to find something that does not exist, or trying to accomplish an impossible task. Others who are aware of the prank will often redirect the victim to several different places.
The prank often involves the use of jargon, where the immediate meaning is not obvious. It can also depend on a new recruit's unfamiliarity with the business, such as being sent on a search for an ID10T form (pronounced I.D. Ten Tango, using the military phonetic alphabet).
In carny, a type of fool's errand is known as the key to the midway.
Read more about this topic: Snipe Hunt
Famous quotes containing the words fool and/or errand:
“Sir, I admit your gen’ral rule
That every poet is a fool:
But you yourself may serve to show it,
That every fool is not a poet.”
—Alexander Pope (1688–1744)
“Among the interesting thing in camp are the boys. You recollect the boy in Captain McIlrath’s company; we have another like unto him in Captain Woodward’s. He ran away from Norwalk to Camp Dennison; went into the Fifth, then into the Guthries, and as we passed their camp, he was pleased with us, and now is “a boy of the Twenty-third.” He drills, plays officer, soldier, or errand boy, and is a curiosity in camp.”
—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)