pound sand
To engage in a simple, useless activity that anyone would reasonably know how to perform.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“If he thinks I will help him, he can go pound sand.”
“You can tell that dishonest salesman to go pound sand.”
“When the rude customer demanded a refund for his own mistake, the manager told him to go pound sand.”
“The landlord raised the rent by fifty percent, so the tenants told him to pound sand and moved out the next day.”
“After the consultant offered yet another impractical solution, the frustrated director dismissed him and suggested he go pound sand.”
The expression dates to the 19th century, originating as a reference to a task of singular futility. It was traditionally employed as an illustration of an activity so elementary that even the most inept individual could manage it, while simultaneously serving as a metaphor for an occupation so entirely without purpose that only a fool would undertake it. The idiom survives as a dismissal, recommending that the listener occupy themselves with a labor that achieves nothing.
- 01
a pound to a penny
Very likely; almost certainly.
- 02
an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure
Precaution and prevention of an undesirable thing is preferable to dealing with its potential consequences.
- 03
build on sand
To put something in an unstable position by failing to give it a secure foundation.
- 04
bury one's head in the sand
To deliberately ignore the reality of a situation; to pretend a problem does not exist.
- 05
line in the sand
A defining moment; a cutoff point.
- 06
merry-go-round
[Cockney slang]pound
- 07
penny wise and pound foolish
Prudent and thrifty with small amounts of money, but wasteful with large amounts.
- 08
pound a beat
Of a police officer, to walk a regular route.
Last updated August 10, 2026