trekken aan een dood paard

== Dutch == === Etymology === Literally pulling on a dead horse. While pulling on a live horse may result in the horse starting to walk in the direction it's being pulled in, a dead horse will never contribute to the effort to move in a particular direction. === Pronunciation === === Verb === trekken aan een dood paard (figurative) wasting time and/or resources on an endeavor that is never expected to result in a desirable outcome ==== See also ==== dead on arrival, nonstarter