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Reader question: This – Was Iraq a fool's errand? – is a headline. What
does "fool's errand" mean? Is it a set phrase?
My comments: An errand is a journey one takes in order to do something for
someone. It's a usually a short trip for some light task. For example, your
teacher may ask you to do an errand for him. He wants you to go back to his
office and fetch some chalk for him. He'd forgotten to bring it with him to
class.
That's probably a poor example but then forgetful teachers are nothing to
be ashamed of. Teachers are human. All of them, I suppose, including the one who
fled the classroom first during the earthquake in Sichuan last month, leaving
his class behind.
Anyways, you get the picture of what an errand is.
A fool's errand?
That means it's a job only a fool will take.
Joking, but this lighthearted interpretation is more or less correct in
essence. "A fool's errand" refers to a fruitless journey. If someone is sent on
a fool's errand, it means they are dispatched to do a job for no good reason, or
to accomplish a task at which they're not going to succeed.
In other words, it's an impossible mission – all the good work will be in
vain.
"Was Iraq a fool's errand?"
From such a headline, we may safely infer that the author questions whether
the war on Iraq would accomplish its goals, whatever those were. Probably
not.
Is "fool's errand" a set phrase?
'Tis.
Here are media examples:
1. fool's errand
By calling for an end to the federal ban on offshore oil drilling, John
McCain is placing a risky bet. He is wagering that skyrocketing gas prices have
finally reached a tipping point, a threshold moment that has led voters to
rethink their strong and long-held opinions against coastal oil exploration.
The stakes couldn't be higher: If he is wrong, McCain will have seriously
damaged his chances in two key states with thousands of miles of coastline –
California and Florida – and where opposition to offshore oil drilling has been
unwavering. And he will have undermined some of his closest political allies in
those states and others, including potential fall battlegrounds such as Virginia
and North Carolina.
"Before $4.25-per-gallon gas, this would have been like pulling a pin on a
grenade and rolling it into the state," said David Johnson, the former executive
director of the Florida Republican Party. "It would have been a fool's errand to
recommend it. It was never, ever a thing that a smart politician would have done
in Florida."
- McCain plays with fire on offshore drilling, Politico.com, June 17,
2008.
2. on a fool's errand
New York City is a colossal urban beehive, and the perfect setting for a
fascinating game about human behavior.
"Primetime" set up a seemingly impossible challenge for six pairs of people
in different locations all over Manhattan: Try to find the other couples – all
complete strangers – with no clues or additional information, just $100 to spend
as they wished.
As daunting as the game appears, Yale economics professor Barry Nalebuff
doesn't think the players are on a fool's errand. In his classes, he teaches
game theory, which uses math to describe and even predict how people will behave
in a whole range of situations.
"It [game theory] is the science of strategy. It's recognizing that the
success of what you do depends on what other people do," Nalebuff said. John
Nash, the mathematician featured in the movie "A Beautiful Mind," won the Nobel
Prize for his work in game theory, proving there's a way for everyone in a group
to be happy with the outcome.
Nalebuff says "Primetime's" challenge is an experiment in common
perceptions. "Can I think about what you are thinking that I'll do? Can I put
myself in your shoes as you are trying to put yourself in my shoes?"
- Mission Impossible: In Search of Strangers in New York City,
abcnews.go.com, March 16, 2006. |
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发表于 2016-7-9 23:50:01