Talk:Snipe hunt/Archive 1

Wow, where'd snipe hunt list go?

I haven't looked at this page in a year or so but virtually all of the content has been removed. Not sure if this is intentional or not, so I didn't want to alter it. If you want to see the actual Snipe Hunt list, try looking back in the history. The Dec 2007 and earlier entries seem to still be intact: [1] —Preceding unsigned comment added by Srainwater (talk • contribs) 22:28, 8 July 2008 (UTC)

Navy jokes

In the U.S. Navy, it is also common to ask new recruits to search for "Sound Powered Phone Batteries." Naturally, sound powered phones (used for communications between different parts of the ship) do not have batteries. Another trick is to issue the recruit a kapok jacket and binoculars and send him to stand for hours on the bow of the ship (preferably in foul weather), searching for the mail buoy. The other sailors explain that they are anxious for letters from home, and will be most unhappy if the mail buoy is missed.

Ah yes, I remember these "hunts" well. Also I would add several which are on the U.S. Navy slang page, as well as the search for the two ships tied together in the middle of the Pacific Ocean that are there to mark the International Date Line. Priceless.--Metron4 22:12, 9 December 2005 (UTC)

In the days of sail, boys were sent off for different kinds of oil for the port and starboard lights. I am glad that sometimes Wikipedia is not entirely serious.--DThomsen8 (talk) 01:44, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

Haha my grandad was in the RAF, and they used to get people to go and ask around for a 9 inch hole. and people did as well aparently Lord loss210 (talk) 16:47, 7 September 2009 (UTC)

Left-handed Knives

I have removed knives from the list of fictional left-handed items as left-handed knives actually exist. While most knives used in the west are center-cut and, as such, equally usable by both right- and left-handed people, most knives used in Japan and other eastern countries have bevels which are ground only one side and can be used effectively only by people of the specific handedness the knife was cut for. See Japanese kitchen knives.

I've also just removed left handed corkscrew (has a 'reverse' thread) & left handed can opener (mirrored working parts), both items very much exist, I have a lefty can opener for my partner, and have failed to open wine bottles with a lefty corkscrew before! --RedHillian 22:10, 10 October 2007 (UTC)

I've reworded the second slightly because I read it as "(..., hammers, ...) or hammers ...", also changed achiral to ambidextrous because the prior word is not generally known and the only reference I can find using it in the sense used here is a page discussing this very topic, so I suspect common descent rather than true corroboration.Kevinpet (talk) 07:04, 10 March 2008 (UTC)

Well there's a slight different : achiral implies that the tools is completely symmetric (like a screw driver) whereas ambidextrous only implies that the tool can be used by both hands whether it's actually symmetric or merely because although asymmetric this asymmetry doesn't impair proper use of the tool (lots of vehicle like cars or motorbikes are asymmetric, but can be used regardless of the handedness of the driver, because the driving style requires both hands to be used anyway).

To both parents poster in this thread. Do nevertheless some of these tool get mentioned usually as fools errand ? Because in that case it should be best add a note that although some tools are usually asymmetric in the western world and thus used to make fools errand, some these do also exist in asymmetric variation like Japanese knifes DrYak (talk) 12:19, 12 September 2008 (UTC)

I removed "square drill" because it really does exist - see Mortiser. Roger (talk) 18:58, 21 February 2010 (UTC)

square drill is still around, maybe the joke is that it does exist, it is in a Martin Gardener book.Gomez2002 (talk) 14:29, 27 June 2016 (UTC)

Don't these jokes undermine the joker's authority?

Doesn't a superior issuing a snipe hunt to a subordinate begin to undermine their own authority, by placing the validity or rationallity of their orders under question? In an organization where orders are usually supposed to be followed without question, such as the military, it seems antithetical to their regular behavioural conditioning of being trained to follow orders even when you think the orders(or your CO) stupid.

I disagree. First, it's a sort of initiation, which is common in hierarchical organizations. It also teaches the newbie to think a little bit before he goes off. In these organizations (notably the military), there is no undermining of authority as authority is not based upon charisma. What you're also missing is the context--when the dupe realizes what's going on, he tends to understand it's not personal but a sort of rite of passage. At least, that was my experience. BenWilson 15:22, 29 September 2005 (UTC)

Well, as far as I've experienced new Sailors are sent on snipe hunts by more experienced sailors, not the officers (the officers were in on it, though). --Joffeloff 04:41, 30 December 2006 (UTC)

As the article states, most snipe hunts are a peer group hazing ritual. I.e. it is not a case of authority as much as it is achieving acceptance in the group. As such, the positive side of the hazing is that it creates a common experience for all members of the community. They all have a tale to tell afterward, etc. Geogre 12:25, 29 January 2007 (UTC)

Merging with Fool's Errand

I have to say I think Fool's Errand should be redirected to Snipe Hunt, not the other way around. BenWilson 15:22, 29 September 2005 (UTC)

From the U.S. point of view, "snipe hunt" is a far more common term. Is "fools' errand" perhaps more common in Commonwealth countries? - DavidWBrooks 16:50, 29 September 2005 (UTC)

No responses, so I merged Fool's Errand to here. - DavidWBrooks 10:17, 12 October 2005 (UTC)

• "Fool's Errand" is a far, far, far more common term than "snipe hunt" in all English countries, but it is a non-specific term, and I'd never equate the two. A "fool's errand" is any vain occupation and is not generally a prank. The snipe hunt, on the other hand, is definitely a socializing prank. In other words, I'd never have the redirect. Anyone looking up "fool's errand" is probably wishing for a dictionary definition & is at the wrong project. Geogre 12:27, 29 January 2007 (UTC)

I don’t think “Snipe Hunt” is common - or even used - anywhere other than the U.S., and that it is wrong to have merged it with “Fool’s Errand, which is a far broader topic, of which the “Snipe Hunt” is but one variety. As George says, a fool’s errand is any vain occupation, and so doesn’t have to be “inflicted” by one person on another. Please separate them out again, as it loses so much the way it has become.Jock123 (talk) 20:19, 25 October 2009 (UTC)

Variations

Shouldn't the 'Variations' have their own separate Wikipedia entry? Also, a couple of variations are missing -- such as the Skyhook variation and the grinderspark variation. Then all the Wikipedia entries for all variations can redirect to the single Wikipedia entry. MDRejhon

Phrase origin

Does the American name of this particular practical joke stem from the legendary difficulty of hunting real snipe (the origin of the term "sniper" as well)? If so, that fact could well be placed after the sentence about snipes and their habitat in the intro. I'd do it, but I'm not certain of the etymology (however likely seeming) and haven't yet found a reference. - toh 22:48, 28 October 2005 (UTC)

In my experience, most of the people who use this term are too stupid to realize that there even is a bird called a snipe. Gene Nygaard (talk) 02:12, 31 December 2007 (UTC)

But if sniper is really derived from snipe, the OED would tell us right away. --DThomsen8 (talk) 01:46, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

OK, i'm an idiot

"The chant goes something like "OWATTA AS SIAM" and is chanted louder and faster until it suddenly dawns on everyone what it is they are chanting, at which point the group usually cracks up in laughter."

I assume "OWATTA AS SIAM" is meant to run together to form some amusing phrase. I just can't work out what it's supposed to be. What is it they're meant to be saying? --86.135.179.53 03:33, 15 November 2005 (UTC)

"Oh, what an ass I am". Wicked funny, eh? - DavidWBrooks 14:00, 15 November 2005 (UTC)

However, it's no longer in the article - I removed this example because it's not a "snipe hunt", it's just a practical joke, and this article is way overloaded with examples as it is. - DavidWBrooks 14:02, 15 November 2005 (UTC)

Is the Snipe a Snark?

Could there be a connection with the 'Hunting of the Snark' An Agony in Eight Fits by Lewis Carroll? At the end of the long hunt it is discovered that:

He had softly and suddenly vanished away-- For the Snark was a Boojum, you see.

20.133.0.14 10:42, 22 November 2005 (UTC)

I suppose there could; is there any evidence of it, such as some letter by Carroll mentioning "snipe hunt" perhaps? - DavidWBrooks 12:54, 22 November 2005 (UTC)

Very clever! Thank you for the fun idea. Sadly, i was unable to come up with any supporting evidence of this. My 100%-unscientific theory is that it came from kids taking a victim into the woods to hunt the snipe bird and ditching the victim in the woods, and it mutated into more intricate pranks. If evidence comes up for the Carroll theory i would be delighted because i enjoyed Carroll's works. I'd say this is a big reason i love WP. --Kevin L'Huillier 02:54, 5 June 2006 (UTC)

Category:In-jokes

Shouldn't this page be added to Category:In-jokes? I can't find how to do this. 71.244.183.104 15:46, 28 May 2006 (UTC)

Great suggestion. I have added it. To see how it is done, edit the page, then look very near the bottom for the links to Category: pages. Thank you; your suggestion helped! --Kevin L'Huillier 02:46, 5 June 2006 (UTC)

an endless list

The list of examples is getting absurdly long. Nobody's going to read through all that; it's a waste that serves no reader. But I can't figure out how to cut it down - they're all equally good and/or equally bad, depending on your point of view; what possible filter could be used to trim the list? Any thoughts? - DavidWBrooks 21:40, 29 April 2006 (UTC)

definitely, WAAAAAY too many examples. Someone more in touch with the article than I should chop some of those out, like David I don't know which ones to remove. Oreo man 19:11, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

I agree, but it looks to me like it isn't an excess of examples. I'm chopping it up, and there aren't that many. It's poorly-organized, and at least three items have been duplicated so far (blinker fluid, left-handed tools, and prop wash). Also, some explanations are far longer than necessary.

Also, since most of these are fetching a non-existent item, i am turning it into a list, organized into categories where appropriate. Hopefully it turns out good. --Kevin L'Huillier 23:08, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

Sounds like an excellent approach. - DavidWBrooks 11:56, 4 June 2006 (UTC)

Ordering and filtering

I have the list of fake items broken up. I am not sure how to best organize them. So far there are common ones (such as a left-handed hammer) and military ones. Military ones have common, aviation/airborne, and naval. After sorting these, removing duplicates, and pairing some up (such as "a bucket of vacuum, steam, sparks, etc"), the list does appear to be long with 50-some items.

I'll try to clean up what i have a bit more. Right now it is rather unsightly. The best place to post this would be a subpage in my user talk page, correct? I'm looking here and that seems to be the recommendation.

I'll put the new list up after i get time to finish up and we can decide what to trim. --Kevin L'Huillier 20:28, 4 June 2006 (UTC)

Unless you're really unsure whether you system is screwy, I'd go ahead and edit your changes right into the article. My experience with subpages is that nobody ever gets around to looking at them.

I'm not sure this would work, but maybe it could be broken first into impossible tasks vs. nonexistent objects; then under each of those two categories there could be a heading for an organization (Air Force, Boy Scouts, construction sites, miscellaneous, etc.), and under each of those headings a list of tasks or objects. Doing it in list form like that gets rid of most verbs/nouns/sentence structure and makes it easier to scan through. - DavidWBrooks 21:56, 4 June 2006 (UTC)

Okay, the impossible task has been added, but there were no examples that i noticed. Perhaps i missed one. Your suggestion for categorization was similar to what i was thinking. I feel yours was better organized so i used your system.

Hopefully it looks good to you. It looks far better to me so far, but it could possibly use some revision.

One thing that i was thinking is that fool's errand is not really close enough to a snipe hunt to warrant these errands being placed in Snipe Hunt's article. A snipe hunt may often be a fool's errand, but i would hardly call looking for a bucket of steam a snipe hunt. It may just be dialect and interpretation of the phrasing.

I noticed you covered this discussion earlier, but after making these edits the distinction has become a bit more clear. Perhaps we should reopen the merge/split discussion?

Please comment on this revision, and be kind. I have made many edits, but this was my first major one. And thank you for the advice, David. --Kevin L'Huillier 02:33, 5 June 2006 (UTC)

I really like the categorization, but this really seems to make it more clear there is a good case for changing the title of the article to Fools errand or Wild goose chase. Snipe hunt should really just be a variation of those as there is so much here that isn't a snipe hunt. In other words every snipe hunt is a wild goose chase but not every wild goose chase is a snipe hunt. It should still be one merged page, just not by this name. Nowimnthing 20:33, 9 July 2006 (UTC)

What's an example of a wild-goose chase that wouldn't be a snipe hunt? Nothing comes to mind at the moment. - DavidWBrooks 20:54, 9 July 2006 (UTC)

You're right, maybe I should have said not every fool's errand is a snipe hunt. When you send someone to find something that is nonexistent it is a snipe hunt/wild goose chase. When you give someone an impossible task (which obtaining nonexistent item would be a subset of) it is a fool's errand. So I guess the page title should be Fool's errand. Nowimnthing 18:59, 18 July 2006 (UTC)

Good sir/madam i must agree with you completely. It was something that came to mind while rewriting the article, and i am glad someone else brought it up. Snipe hunts are a type of fool's errand and should fall under that article. I will add a talk section and if there are no objections, i feel it should be moved and Snipe Hunt should redirect. --Kevin L'Huillier 03:13, 7 August 2006 (UTC)

Baggage Trailer

The HBO Television series Carnivale claims that carnival workers use a nonexistent baggage trailer for this kind of joke. I'm not adding it to the page since I don't have independent confirmation, but if anyone does, I suggest adding it. See HBO's guide to the episode in question. I grant that the entry is example-heavy, but many people are fascinated by carny culture. Eggsyntax 22:50, 10 August 2006 (UTC)

Move to Fool's errand

There is discussion of moving Snipe hunt to Fool's errand. The original commentary was here:

Talk:Snipe hunt#Ordering and filtering

--Kevin L'Huillier 03:16, 7 August 2006 (UTC)

Dropbear

Just letting everyone know I altered the section on Dropbears a little bit, mostly because they are an actual urban legend around here, instead of just a character made for an advertisement for a Beer company. Kokiri kid 01:10, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

Metric adjustable spanner

The metric adjustable wrench isn't as far-fetched as some people think; In my part of the world (Europe), adjustable spanners often have a (metric) scale on its jaws, thereby enabling the user to roughly measure the size of the nut/bolt encountered... Therefore, i am inclined to think it should be removed from this list. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 62.63.38.171 (talk • contribs) 20:09, 3 December 2006 (UTC).

Unsourced list

I propose that the unsourced list of "snipe hunts" be removed. It adds virtually nothing to the article. The Jade Knight 00:18, 20 June 2007 (UTC)

Nine Inch Nails

Er, these do indeed exist and are used in house carpentry.

Most people don't know this, and will assume you mean the band. KillTheToy (talk) 23:04, 18 February 2008 (UTC)

I heard nine inch nails are used in building coffins, to prevent them from popping open as the wood warps in reaction to underground moisture... Foxpoet (talk) 04:28, 7 April 2008 (UTC)

Other Common Military errands missing

These are from USMC (about 20 years ago) but I am sure they exist in all branches of US military services, however they also fall into the catagory of a practical joke.

Long Stand / Long Weight (i.e. send a person to a supply warehouse, admin, tool room, etc. to ask for a "long weight" and after about 5 minutes the person will be told they've "waited" long enough).

Sending a woman for "a screw": (WARNING - This one would probably get you in trouble for sexual harassment if tried in today's "politically correct" world - even in the Military !!!) (And rightly so, adds a woman.)

6/23/14

It was common in the US Army, in the early 1970s, to send out people arriving at their first permanent assignments on missions for "an air bucket" and "the sky hook." This was also a way to meet every NCO in your unit. An acquaintance who was a Master Sergeant in the US Air Force during the 1980s used to send out new arrivals for "flight line" and "prop wash."

64.71.8.50 (talk) 18:38, 23 June 2014 (UTC)

Move to Fool's errand

This has been discussed before, but I think it needs to be addressed again. I think this page should be moved to Fool's errand because that is the more generic and common term. As described above, it is also more encompassing, since Fool's errands include all impossible tasks, not just fruitless searches like snipe hunts. Dhaluza (talk) 20:31, 16 December 2007 (UTC)

I agree that something should be done. I came here after clicking on a link to "wild goose chase", and do not think that "Snipe hunt" (which I may have heard of before, but if so can't really recall it) has much at all to do with "wild goose chase". Both "fool's errand" and "wild goose chase" are much more common expressions in my opinion. --RenniePet (talk) 03:54, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

I disagree, because they refer to very different things. A "snipe hunt" is specifically a prank perpetrated upon the gullible or inexperienced. A "wild goose chase" is any impossible search, even a self-initiated one, or an impossible search imposed by someone who doesn't know it's impossible. A "fool's errand" is any impossible task, whether a search or any other task. The key is how the task is initiated: Did a person initiate the task knowing it was impossible? "Wild goose chase" is a subset of "fool's errand," but "snipe hunt" is in a different class. I got here by searching for "snipe hunt," and got exactly the page I wanted. Foxpoet (talk) 04:37, 7 April 2008 (UTC)

I have NEVER heard the use of the term "Snipe Hunt" in the generic fashion that it's represented as here. A snipe hunt has always been a specific adventure hunting for an imaginary animal on a camping trip. From my experience a "Fool's Errand" is the more generic term. Running around an airport trying to find a bucket of propwash and a 100 feet of flightline is a fool's errand, not a snipe hunt. Dictionary.com puts the specific "snipe hunt" first, the generic definition second. Fool's errand has only the generic definition. I'd like to see seperate articles or Snipe Hunt as a subsection of Fool's Errand rather than vice versa. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.70.6.236 (talk) 22:02, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

Only on Wikipedia do we see people unironically debating the finer points of differentiation between snipe hunts, fools' errands, and wild goose chases. -2601:0:600:62C:3C77:49E7:F472:C310 (talk) 09:26, 2 January 2015 (UTC)

Sourcing?

Hate to point this out, but there is a huge sourcing problem here, with a big side of excess trivia. Absent of reliable sources, pretty much everything listed is "something I heard of..." No doubt the list has been compiled in good faith, but that doesn't circumvent WP:NOT, WP:V and other policies. Deiz talk 10:32, 28 January 2008 (UTC)

Cleaned up according to policy. Please ensure future additions are reliably sourced. Deiz talk 17:37, 2 February 2008 (UTC)

No, you didn't clean up, you just indiscriminately deleted everything. For example, you didn't go through the regional subsection; the links point to sourced articles. Actually a fork to a separate "list of" article would be better than just delete everything. --Vuo (talk) 19:07, 2 February 2008 (UTC)

Lists still require sourcing and context, whether they are separate or within a parent article. Items require their own sources in this article, regardless of being sourced in other articles. Despite requests for sourcing on this discussion page and tagging the article, nothing was apparently done to bring this article in line with policy, hence the cleanup. Please don't add unsourced information to articles, as you did when reverting my policy-mandated removal of unsourced trivia. Deiz talk 06:40, 3 February 2008 (UTC)

You still did delete the sourced regional section, but left the "in popular culture" section alone. Which is more "trivia" and "unsourced"? And you also removed the references. It looks like you didn't even read what you did, you just reverted. I'm restoring the article and then we can pare it individually section-by-section. --Vuo (talk) 14:15, 3 February 2008 (UTC)

On a second though, there's too much of work to do at one instant. I deleted the trivia sections but tried to explain the snipe hunts such that it's not just deleting everything. The pointless "in popular culture" section is found everywhere, I removed it because it does not add encyclopedia content to the article. --Vuo (talk) 14:43, 3 February 2008 (UTC)

I think you're catching my drift.. I highly recommend against restoring everything and "paring it section by section" - the only way to make this work is to remove the mass of unsourced / trivial / WP:NFT items, find sources for the information that can be reliably sourced and restore them as and when with appropriate citations. I personally think a short list, such as the one in the current article, is absolutely sufficient for the encyclopedia. I noted the possible consequences of simply readding the unsourced content on your talk page, I'm sure that's a route neither of us want to go down. As far as the regional section goes, I see what you mean by "sources", aka bluelinks to other articles. You're right, it's a good section and I was wrong to remove it. Being a Scottish ex-pat, I get plenty of mileage out of telling students about the fearsome wild haggis in the Highlands... Pop culture references are useful in establishing the notability of a subject - 3 solid references to major films / shows / etc is a good rule of thumb. Given that the pop culture refs were also unsourced, I can't object to their removal, but I'm not against a short, appropriate list of that kind. I get plenty of grief for pruning such lists, but I rarely delete them entirely. Deiz talk 15:48, 3 February 2008 (UTC)

Please read WP:IAR, you have gone against something which following the rules, this could be construed as vandalism in some form could it not? Klichka (talk) 23:28, 14 February 2008 (UTC)

Absolutely not. IAR does not excuse Wikipedia from being an encyclopedia, or allow it to become a dumping ground for useless trivia. What, specifically, are you concerned about? Deiz talk 00:04, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

Where can we put these facts then? It's useful information that must be preserved and this article is weak because the area is relatively undocumented. What do you propose we do with an undocumented area? Wikipedia should go places that no other encyclopedia has dare gone in its quest to become the first and final stop for information. (It's also late here so I'll be better able to discuss this later) Klichka (talk) 08:02, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

You're on a philosophical tangent that needs to be discussed on a bigger page than this, the WP:V discussion page for example. I can't overstate the simplicity of this fact - information on Wikipedia must be reliably sourced. Hence, as far as Snipe Hunt goes, please source anything you wish to add per WP:V. Thanks, Deiz talk 06:38, 17 February 2008 (UTC)

Problems

This page has an immense number of problems. First, there's a problem with scope of this writeup. There definitely needs to be some disambiguation here. "Snipe hunt" can mean three different things. It can mean an expedition for the harvesting of snipe, an actual game bird similar to a sandpiper. It can mean a specific prank from the midwest USA, involving some variation of putting a mark in an isolated place (usually at night, and with a bag) and telling them to "wait for the snipe" that you'll be herding in their direction. Third, it can mean a class of pranks, generally described below.

Second, there's no organization. There's just random lists of jokes that have been played on people, with no sources, no explanations, and no logical structure.

Finally, why does "Fool's Errand" redirect here? There's only one definition of "fool's errand" (except maybe some artwork titles) and this isn't a dictionary. It certainly isn't noteworthy or deserving of being in an encyclopedia. And even if it was, "fool's errand" is certainly a better expression/usage/whatever than "snipe hunt". "Fool's errand" has a much closer meaning to the actual content here than "snipe hunt", as the primary definition of "fool's errand" is "a fruitless mission" while the primary definition of "snipe hunt" is a "practical joke involving sending a mark to wait in the dark for snipe". 165.134.208.120 (talk)

In discussion pages, please add new sections at the bottom, using the "+" button. —Tamfang (talk) 18:30, 3 April 2008 (UTC)

Adding to the List of impossible items

I'm not sure if this is the best place to list all such things, but in case a list is made in the future, I'd like to tell how my friend, who served an LDS mission in Germany told me that the veteran missionaries used to tell the newbies to go buy a "davon" ("[one] of those"), and that the shopkeeper would try to sell them a "wovon" ("[one] of which?") They were instructed to by no means accept the wovon. Amulekii (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 17:20, 25 May 2009 (UTC).

I have seen a board stretcher. It is a hydraulic device. It can stretch a board about 2%. This comes at the expense of the structural strength of the board. - Gene Wirchenko

I have heard Board Stretcher at a number of wood shops. Frequently, experienced hands may indicate an unsuspecting neophyte to actually run a board through a planer, as it it looks like a plausible candidate for stretching wood —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.160.223.145 (talk) 03:35, 9 February 2011 (UTC)

what about a skyhook? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 129.15.131.253 (talk) 00:50, 29 January 2009 (UTC)

article split?

How about creating List of fools errands or List of snipe hunts? That would move the trivia to another place and leave the definitions here. Nowimnthing (talk) 13:27, 22 June 2009 (UTC)

Possibly regional usage of term

"Snipe hunt" in Arkansas also refers to the trawling of ashtrays for cigarette butts to roll into cigarettes. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dobertw (talk • contribs) 14:50, 11 August 2009 (UTC)

I think I found the bacon stretcher

I've seen TV commercials for a bacon stretcher, but apparently there haven't been enough third-party reviews in professional publications to justify an article about it. --Damian Yerrick (talk | stalk) 06:01, 7 January 2012 (UTC)

A fool's errand

A snipe hunt is a hyponym, and not a synonym of a fool's errand. Therefore the "fool's errand"-content should not be in this article: it would be like explaining what milk is in an article about milkshake. I am moving the "fool's errand"-content here to the discussion page, in case anyone would like to make an "a fool's errand"-article, allhough I don't think one is needed. --Spannerjam (talk) 19:19, 4 March 2013 (UTC)

Fool's errand

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.

"Snipe shooting", reverse glass painting, England, 19th c.

Regional creatures

Many regions have an imaginary being used as a snipe hunt. In Bavaria, tourists were taken on extended expeditions to search for chamois eggs, or on all-night Wolpertinger stakeouts. In Scotland, tourists are told about the Wild Haggis hunts, while in the Western United States, they may be warned about the savage jackalope. In Australia, foreigners may be warned to remain alert for drop bears, bunyips or hoop snakes, mythical creatures that are a popular joke among the locals. In Wyoming, natives warn tourists to watch out for rattlesnake eggs. (Rattlesnakes don't lay eggs; they give birth to live offspring.)

In France, Switzerland and the north of Italy, particularly in mountains like the Alps or the Jura Mountains, tourists are sent to hunt the dahu, an imaginary mammal whose left legs are shorter than its right legs, so that it can walk easily along a mountain slope. A practical way to hunt the beast is to call him from the back: it turns around and falls, because of its long legs on the top and his short legs on the bottom. In Spain and Portugal, new people at a campsite are sent at night to hunt gambozino, an imaginary small animal which is usually said to only appear at night.

In the Philippines, a mythical mammal called a Sigbin or Amamayong has been used in a more criminal manner. The descriptions of the creatures vary, but generally, they are said to have the curious habit of walking backwards with its head twisted between its hindlegs to see and having the ability to turn invisible at will. They are considered members of the fairy/underworld folk, who are usually portrayed as malevolent. The popular notion that a sigbin would bring wealth and good luck to anyone who manages to catch one was used successfully by con men in extorting large amounts of money from gullible families. These self-styled 'sigbin hunters' often using pictures of albino rabbits or kangaroos to the uneducated as 'proof' of actually having seen one. Sigbins were also said to have blood which can cure any kind of ailment (a popular con man catchphrase being Even AIDS!) which also made families of people with a mysterious incurable ailment with no access to doctors vulnerable to such attempts at fraud. Similar confidence tricks also involve other popular legends like Yamashita's gold.

In Mexico, a common trick is to send people to find tenmeacá (tenme acá, which means "keep me there"). This can be said to be a spice, a medicinal herb or a decorative flower, depending on the situation. Similarly, in the Dominican Republic, a person is told to ask for a "tenteallá" (tente allá, translated to "keep you there"). The meaning of this word is also variable to fit the situation (an office supply, a beauty product, etc.).

In the Czech Republic, children and foolish or naïve people in general may be sent to the dispensary for a medicament called semtele. The joke is that after the person arrives at the dispensary and asks for the goods, they eventually end up pronouncing (j)sem tele, which means I'm a fool (literally I'm a calf). The joke's effect gets strengthened if the person does not realize the pun even after being laughed at, and returns home without the medicament and totally puzzled. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Spannerjam (talk • contribs) 19:25, 4 March 2013 (UTC)

Common items

• In the U.S. Marines and the US Army, an inexperienced Marine/Soldier may be asked by a superior to get an ID-10T (Eye Dee Ten Tee, or IDIOT) form, a BA-1100N (Bravo Alpha, Eleven Hundred November, or Balloon), an ST-1 (Sierra Tango One, or STONE), a Humvee key (normally started with a switch, not key), chemlight batteries,red light protractor (they use red lights to see small portions of maps if lost), exhaust sample, muzzle blast, the gun report, left handed grenades, or a box of grid squares. Other ones include telling young Marines/Soldiers to walk up to a senior leader and tell them they need a PRC-E8 or PRC-E7. Usually pronounced "prick", PRC is a prefix designation for handheld radios under JETDS; E-8 and E-7 are military pay grades. In the artillery branch, it is also common to tell a new Marine/Soldier to knock on the side of an armored vehicle and if it echoes mark it with chalk, i.e. "checking for weak spots". In the mechanical field, sending a Marine/Soldier to the motor pool to retrieve a spark plug for a diesel engine, or in a communications unit the unsuspecting serviceman might be sent out to find a can of frequency grease or a spool of orderwire. In the Airwing Marines/Sailors are at times asked to get a can of pneumatic fluid or a batch of flightline.
• In the U.S. Marines, an inexperienced Marine may be sent to the weapons qualification range to ask the NCOIC for a stack of 0311's. 0311 is the Marine MOS designator for an infantryman. In response, the NCOIC will call any available Marine not otherwise occupied to "dogpile" the dupe, where they all leap on top of him and pile on.
• In the US Air Force, some activities such as gathering "flight line" or a bucket of "prop wash" have similar purpose, sending someone out for a bottle of "K9P" (canine pee, i.e., dog urine).
• In the US Navy, new sailors may be put on watch at the bow of the ship to look for the mail buoy or given a broom or mop with instructions to find and kill the sea-bat allegedly infesting some portion of the ship. It is also popular to send them to retrieve sound-powered phone batteries, or to go to stores and ask for ten feet of freeboard. Before the days of solid-state (electronics), inexperienced young men were sequentially directed through a series of supply compartments to request a Fallopian tube for a malfunctioning radio, RADAR, or SONAR set. The newest person on a ship may be gullible enough to go around asking people if they "have seen the Captain's crank," presumably to use it to shut a window or to stow some vital machinery prior to leaving port (it being a versatile "tool"). Unfortunately for the errand runner, no one has seen it except the Captain himself (who generally keeps it hidden). If a senior member of the machinist's mate's, damage controlman's, or engineman's rating is known for being exceptionally big and strong, a new person may be sent searching for the "MMC," "DC" or "EN1 punch." It is also common aboard ship to have a sailor ask for bulkhead remover. The Operations Specialists in the Combat Information Center have been known to call up the Surface Warfare Officers on the ship's bridge watch team asking them to urgently get a visual on the incoming B1RD (bird) or GU-11 (gull) contacts. In the aviation community, it is common to have new sailors ask QA for the keys to the aircraft or the line shack for 1,000 feet of flight line.
• In navies across the world, on a young or new member's first trip across the equator they may be asked to keep watch for the Equator Buoy Line. This is more effective when the weather is undesirable. Also common is asking junior crew members to search for the Golden Rivet, typically described as the last rivet put into the hull at the very bottom of the ship. Before electric lighting, sending for red and green lamp oil to refill the left and right navigation lights was common.
• In the US Coast Guard, new crew members aboard cutters may be asked to go to the Damage Control shop and ask the lead enlisted damage controlman for the keys to the sea chest. The sea chest refers to a large pipe where ocean water enters for use in the cooling systems and for the fire main. This question often results in the damage control officer, chief or lead petty officer accusing the victim of sabotage, as opening the sea chest underway would result in rapid flooding. Also common include request for new members to get a DC Punch from the one of the Damage Controlmen who in turn hit them, be requested to calibrate the radar by being wrapped in tin foil and made to walk around the forecastle and stand in various poses, or to look for the mail buoy because the captain is expecting an important letter or package, who are subsequently reprimanded for missing the non-existent buoy during their watch.
• In the drilling industry, a green or new lease hand could be sent to the mechanic shop or laydown yard for pipe/plank stretchers, rock softener, muffler bearings, or even a sky hook. Another request could be to find the supervisor (sometimes referred to as a push) and ask them for push-slaps, which usually results in a slap to the hardhat.
• In old-time passenger railroading, a new dining car galley crewman might be sent to ask the conductor for the "counter-stretcher", who would then send him the length of the train to the baggage car at the head end, where he was informed that the rear brakeman had it.
• In the Boy Scouts of America, new scouts are sent to retrieve items such as a left-handed smoke shifter or a bacon stretcher, find fifty feet of shoreline to practice knots, go on a snipe hunt, ask other camps for some elbow grease, find an inflatable dartboard, or borrow a cup of propane or some white lampblack. These and similar things have been deemed hazing, and are now ostensibly prohibited under The BSA Guide to Safe Scouting.
• Machinery parts that sound real, but if considering the actual machine, cannot exist: muffler bearings, diesel engine spark plugs, piston return spring, canooter valve, headlight or blinker fluid, or a top/bottom radiator hose for a Volkswagen Beetle (which is air-cooled and therefore has no radiator).
• Tools that do not exist, such as a metric adjustable wrench, a brass magnet, a sky hook, a 3/4" steam separator, a key to the oarlocks, a key to the batter's box, 3-foot metre stick, angular striper, shelf-stretcher, board-stretcher, metal stretcher (in plumbing, a pipe-stretcher, or electrical, a wire-stretcher), electric brick, brick bender, hole remover, or left-handed versions of usually achiral tools (wrench, hammer, or screwdriver), or tools made out of unlikely materials, such as glass hammers.
• Fetching a quantity of something that can not be contained, for example, a bucket of vacuum or of propane, a bubble for a spirit level, steam, flight, a box of replacement RPMs, or shore line, striped or tartan paint, prop wash, or sparks (especially sparks from a grinder).
• Items that are patently ridiculous (such as striped/camouflage paint, dehydrated water, smoke bender, a box of nail holes, pre-dug post holes or a rubber flag for rainy days) or figurative (such as elbow grease). Particularly skeptical novices can be caught out by a request for a large- or medium-sized small tool. Although sounding ridiculous, these do in fact exist: the small tool is a small trowel-like implement used in building and brick-laying, and comes in several sizes.
• Members of orchestras are sent to "find the tacet" when their part calls for it.
• New nurses may be sent to pick up a "neck tourniquet."
• In sailing, an inexperienced crew member may be asked "to not forget to wind up the compass."
• In restaurants and other facilities with cold storage for food, it is not uncommon for a new worker to be asked to fill garbage bags with hot air and place them in the freezer in order to "prevent freezer burn."
• In offices or other workplaces where paperwork is required, the target of the prank may be sent out to purchase some "oral agreement forms."
• In grocery stores, it is common for new workers to be asked to replace lobster claw bands, retrieve toilet paper bleach, refill the water fountain, or shake containers of salad dressing so that they do not harden.
• In retail stores, it is common to ask new or inexperienced employees to go find the Wall-stretcher or the Shoelace repair kit.
• In casinos, new roulette dealers might be instructed to go ask the pit boss (usually in another pit) for a "wheel crank" in order to wind up the roulette wheel. Its perceived 'perpetual' motion is actually maintained by the dealer gently spinning the wheel before releasing the ball in the track.
• In the programming business, new non-programmer managers can be made to approve forms for buying write-only memory or specifications for a making a 'dynamic halt' (infinite loop) go faster. Asking them if they managed to turn off clippy, the Microsoft office helper, is used when the company doesn't own Microsoft computers.
• In 5 star restaurants a new waiter or waitress may be asked by the chef to ask a customer if they "want some melted ice."
• In television, a new production assistant or engineer may be sent to find the chroma key, which is sometimes said to fit into the genlock.
• In chemistry labs, an intern may be sent to fetch a sample of "aqueous water." (Aqueous meaning "of water" making it a silly request—all water is aqueous.) Another common prank substance is "anhydrous water" (literally, water-free water). Students will sometimes describe in great details the chemical properties of Kryptonite and add it to the pile of finished homework, unsigned. Other tasks include finding a nitrogen blanket, or a set of tare weights.
• In law firms a new associate may be asked the status of the "Penske file," in reference to an episode of Seinfeld.
• In professional baseball, batboys are often asked to get the box of curve balls.
• High school marching band freshmen are often told that the feather on their shako is on backwards, and to return to the uniform volunteers to get it fixed.
• Scouting, campers, and backpackers have also shared in similar pranks, such as sending people for Skyhooks, and 100' of shoreline.
• In car repair shops, apprentices are told to fetch the black rod (oil flowing out from under a car during oil change)
• In the military, junior Soldiers are sometimes sent to get a box of grid squares, collect an exhaust sample, find chemlight batteries, find a solar powered flashlight, find the nearest prik E-8, remove the muffler bearings from a HMMWV, look for a Tee R double E when out in the field or find the soft spots on a track vehicle and mark them with chalk.
• Pen-15 is an example of an item that is asked for but refers to something else.

Automotive

Changing "seasonal" air in tires. The target is asked if they changed the air in their tires since the previous winter/summer season ended. They are told that tire failure is likely if they haven't and are directed to a nearby service station. This particular fool's errand was mentioned in RockAuto.com's April 2013 news letter in the "Repair Mistakes & Blunders" section. Current newletter is here: http://www.rockauto.com/Newsletter/index.html and will likely be moved to their archive section when the May early edition is posted: http://www.rockauto.com/Newsletter/Archive.htm Similar story here: http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums/f72/funny-story-women-wants-summer-air-tires-37031/#post750327 Jhansonxi (talk) 21:10, 19 April 2013 (UTC)

All very interesting, but unless reliable, published sources explicitly compare this prank to a snipe hunt, mentioning it here would be original research implying a connection that has not been made by the sources. At the very least, it lends undue weight to a minor event or topic. —Sangdeboeuf (talk) 02:00, 7 January 2017 (UTC)

Muffler Bearings

[2] cites Urban Dictionary as the source. Does UD count as a reliable source? I susspect not. -- RoySmith (talk) 22:48, 2 February 2014 (UTC)

More items

Board strecher, metric cresent wrench, metric screw driver...107.77.87.113 (talk) 05:29, 19 November 2014 (UTC)Fred M

"Snipe hunt" is not merely taking advantage of someone's naivete

A true snipe hunt requires active and conspiratory participation of those in the know which results in the mark truly suffering more than the loss of time, wasted effort and the humiliation. The definitive example of a snipe hunt can be seen in Cheers S03E14 "The Heart Is a Lonely Snipehunter." The group conspires to take Frasier out into the middle of nowhere, and then abandons him. The abandonment aspect is vital to the prank. This doesn't even begin to compare with sending someone to get a metric crescent wrench. However, sending a Marine for a stack of 0311's could qualify as a snipe hunt if everyone involved in the stunt had arranged it ahead of time. Jh338 (talk) 03:13, 6 January 2016 (UTC)

"A snipe hunt or fool's errand is a type of practical joke that involves experienced people making fun of credulous newcomers by giving them an impossible or imaginary task." It is taking advantage of someone's naivete. What you are talking about are general practical jokes. TvojaStara (talk) 18:40, 2 February 2016 (UTC)

Regardless, any of these comparisons are original research unless a reliable, published source makes the same claim. —Sangdeboeuf (talk) 00:47, 7 January 2017 (UTC)