von Pontius zu Pilatus

Meaning

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

Concepts

from pillar to post

hither and thither

to and fro

Translations

aquí i allà

van het kastje naar de muur

van hot naar her

ir de Herodes a Pilatos

Etymology

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.