sleeveless errand

sleeveless errand (plural sleeveless errands)

1. (idiomatic) Synonym of fool's errand
   • c. 1602, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iv], column 2:

     […] I would faine ſee them meet; that that ſame yong Troian aſſe, that loues the whore there, might ſend that Greekiſh whore-maiſterly villaine, with the Sleeue, backe to the diſſembling luxurious drabe, of a ſleeueleſſe errant.

   • 1626 February 1 (licensing date), John Fletcher [et al.], “The Faire Maide of the Inne”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, Act IV, scene i, page 45, column 2:

     No ſir, I intend to ſend you of a ſleeveleſſe errand; […]

   • 1918, Carl Van Vechten, “The Authoritative Work on American Music”, in The Merry-Go-Round‎:

     […] It was in vain that I urged that this would be but a sleeveless errand, arguing that I could not fight men of straw, that these our composers had no real standing in the concert halls, and that pushing them over would be an easy exercise for a child of ten.