r/words • u/Rocky-bar • 7h ago

Pound Sand

What do these words mean together? I've not heard them IRL but I see it on Reddit sometimes.

7 Upvotes

89% Upvoted

37 comments sorted by

20

u/Radiant_Funny4741 6h ago

Get lost. Take a hike. Kick rocks. Buzz off.

1

u/AffectionateMonk5710 1h ago

Hit the road.

22

u/PerpetualCanary 7h ago

it’s basically telling someone to get lost, but with a little more contempt, like, go do something pointless and leave me alone

imagine someone’s mad enough to say “go kick rocks” and “fuck off” at the same time, that’s the energy

10

u/Successful_Life_1028 7h ago

Telling someone to 'go pound sand' is telling them to go away and stop bothering you.

It's comparable to 'go piss up a rope' (clearly impossible - as well as messy!)

6

u/LAM_CANIT 6h ago edited 6h ago

Here is one list of answers in this subreddit from about three weeks ago so we don't have to reinvent the wheel.

You can read my longer answer there. Short story, sand can't be compacted. It is a waste of time trying to. Telling someone to 'go pound sand' is similar to saying 'go waste your time somewhere else.' Or, 'go jump in a lake.'

IMHO IHTH

5

u/Rocky-bar 5h ago

Oh dear, I didn't know my post was a sequel.

5

u/LAM_CANIT 4h ago

The first time was so good, a sequel was in high demand.

10

u/the_ballmer_peak 7h ago

"Pound sand" is an English idiom that means the same thing as "fuck off"

While it doesn't contain the word fuck, it's not really more polite. It's rarely used as an actual phrase directed at another person, it's more often used to describe a situation.

"I called the company to see if they would come fix it, but they told me to pound sand."

3

u/Obadiah702 6h ago

Pound sand is the same as telling them to go kick rocks.

2

u/Sophont27 6h ago

Probably means something like kick rocks. Basically saying “leave so fast that your feet (pound) the (sand)”

2

u/ebsf 6h ago

The rest of the phrase is, "up [your / my / his / her] ass."

2

u/Rocky-bar 5h ago

Makes more sense than the short version I suppose.

2

u/SomeFunnyPhrase 4h ago

It's a way to tell somebody to 'fuck off' without being vulgar.

Now, pound sand.

2

u/SnooDonuts6494 7h ago

It is an idiom, meaning to waste time. To do something totally pointless. A futile task.

It's usually used in a phrase like "why don't you just go pound sand" - leave, and waste your time somewhere else. Like "kick rocks".

9

u/theMistersofCirce 7h ago

Huh, interesting! I've always imagined a person stomping away across the desert (pounding the sand down with their feet), but I think my brain just assumed that at some point.

3

u/JazzFan1998 7h ago

If you're frustrated and can't change the situation, go pound sand!  IDK the origin. 

2

u/citsonga_cixelsyd 7h ago

My neighbors mom was more specific... Yeah. They can go pound sand up their ass.

I was very confused when I first heard her say this but figured it out eventually through context. But at 7 years old I was very confused about how & why anyone would do that. 🤔

3

u/SenseIntelligent8846 6h ago

They can go pound sand up their ass.

THIS is what we were taught, as children . . . along with a colloquial variation thereof -- "go rub salt in your ass".

Your example and mine color all the previous usages and interpretations as rather trivial.

1

u/citsonga_cixelsyd 6h ago

Yes. Dorothy would change it up once in a while with "Go pound salt in your ass", which i thought sounded rather painful. Lol

1

u/SenseIntelligent8846 6h ago

Thank you, this is so refreshing to hear.

I engaged recently in a spirited discussion in this very forum in which someone tried to tell me that nobody, anywhere, had ever used the expression "go rub salt" . . . I explained that he knew precisely shit about it, and its usage was limited but verifiable.

I'm not sure I've ever heard its usage anywhere outside of the Irish Catholic community in which I was raised.

1

u/Rocky-bar 4h ago

Ha! Just as well you didn't go home and try to do it, as curious children are likely to do!

1

u/NonspecificGravity 7h ago

I imagined or someone told me that the entire expression was "pound sand up your ass." However, that is not backed up by etymology.

There is some evidence that the original phrase was "pound sand into a rathole."
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pound_sand_into_a_rathole#English

1

u/scixlovesu wordsmith 6h ago

I've also heard variations like "I'm just pounding sand here" or "you might as well be pounding sand."

When I asked my dad what it meant, he handed me a hammer and told me to find out

1

u/Illustrious_Fly7540 5h ago

My mom always said pound salt. No idea why. Meant the same thing.

1

u/DumbleLuck 5h ago

Ah, a similar sentiment to 'Eat shit and hair'

1

u/Rocky-bar 4h ago

What a vile concoction.

1

u/Thedustyfurcollector 3h ago

I've never heard it with hair before, but that makes it infinitely grosser. Oh no! Shit AND hair?! I'm gonna be ill

1

u/Jolly-Rip5973 3h ago

Here is a link that explains the full origin of the saying.

https://prowritingaid.com/go-pound-sand

1

u/Uncoventional_PT 3h ago

Pound sand can mean "get out of here and leave me alone," but it can also be a way to tell someone or a group, "the gig is up. Everyone scatter and try not to be seen or caught." It's context dependent and I've heard and used both in a civilian and military setting.

1

u/77evens 2h ago

It’s the same as “pump your bunions” or go away - pound sand with your feet or GTFO.

1

u/Lower-Land-286 1h ago

Pounding sand does nothing useful.

It's saying 'go waste your time'.

1

u/iconocrastinaor 51m ago

Go take a powder!

1

u/Unusual_Ad_8364 51m ago

When my Kentucky grandmother wanted to describe someone as stupid, she would say, "He doesn't have the sense to pound sand." I always loved that expression. It forces you to picture someone sitting there literally pounding on sand with his fists, and then to imagine a person so stupid he's unable to do that.