von Pontius zu Pilatus

Significado (Inglés)

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

Conceptos

ir de Herodes a Pilatos

Traducciones

from pillar to post

aquí i allà

hither and thither

to and fro

van het kastje naar de muur

van hot naar her

Etimología (Inglés)

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.