go all around the Wrekin
Take a long time to arrive.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“Don't go all around the Wrekin; just tell me the answer.”
“If you want to reach the station quickly, do not go all around the Wrekin with your explanation of the route.”
“Rather than going all around the Wrekin with unnecessary details, the witness finally provided a direct account of the events that transpired that evening.”
The idiom derives from the Wrekin, a prominent hill located in Shropshire. The phrase likely references the scale of the landmark, which dominates the local landscape and requires a significant detour to circumnavigate.
- 01
all dressed up and nowhere to go
Elaborately attired or otherwise fully prepared for an anticipated situation or activity which, nevertheless, fails to occur.
- 02
all systems go
Everything is ready.
- 03
as you go
While one is doing (something); as one progresses.
- 04
boldly go where no man has gone before
To break new ground.
- 05
come and go
To repeatedly appear and disappear; to be transient.
- 06
don't go there
Do not broach that topic.
- 07
easy come, easy go
Easily won and easily lost (usually said when resigned to a loss; something that comes in the same way, goes in the same way)
- 08
enough to go around
There is an adequate amount or supply of something for all of the people present or involved.
Last updated August 10, 2026