# pound sand

idiom

Source: https://englishreference.com/idiom/pound-sand
Updated: 2026-08-10

## Meaning

To engage in a simple, useless activity that anyone would reasonably know how to perform.

## Examples

- 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.

## Origin

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.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.