von Pontius zu Pilatus

Betekenis (Engels)

from pillar to post, an irritatingly long and indirect way, especially in order to get or find something

Vertalings

from pillar to post

hither and thither

to and fro

aquí i allà

van het kastje naar de muur

van hot naar her

ir de Herodes a Pilatos

Etimologie (Engels)

Literally, “from Pontius to Pilate”. Likely alteration of an older von Herodes zu Pilatus (“from Herod to Pilate”); compare Spanish de Herodes a Pilatos. The form may have originated as a malapropism (Pontius and Pilate being one and the same person), but it surely caught on because it emphasizes the annoyance of the to-and-fro movement even more.