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fool's errand
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, polka-dot, or in Scotland, tartan paint
• Being sent for a long stand or "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 some "shoreline" (Also 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) from escaping.
• Being sent for headlamp fluid, or a plinth ladder.
• Being sent for the folder with missing documents.
We add to the list, "finding Bush lies for the daddy"
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