Run around in circles
Meaning
To be busy doing things that achieve nothing or make no progress.
Origin
The vivid image of running without purpose, covering ground but gaining no distance, is the heart of this phrase. It conjures a sense of frantic, undirected energy, much like a confused animal trapped in a small space, expending effort but making no progress towards an escape. This simple, relatable visual metaphor, highlighting the futility of activity without direction, naturally cemented itself in the English lexicon to describe any situation where effort is wasted on an endless, unproductive loop.
Examples
- After an hour of trying to fix the software bug, I felt like I was just running around in circles.
- The committee spent the entire meeting running around in circles, unable to make a single decision.