went nowhere fast
Made no progress
Went nowhere fast describes a situation, effort, or conversation that made no progress despite activity or time spent.
The phrase captures frustrated stagnation—motion without advancement: The negotiations went nowhere fast.
Often used when abandoning an unproductive approach: This argument is going nowhere fast, so let's drop it.
- fruitlessProducing no useful outcome
- stalemateMutual obstruction preventing progress
- impasseSituation without resolution
- futileIncapable of producing results
- hitting a wallReaching an insurmountable obstacle
exasperation · unproductive · inertia · annoyance · standstill · abortive · misdirected · brick wall · banging head against wall · gridlock · logjam · despair · treading water · spinning wheels · spinning your wheels · going in circles · running in place · wasted
went nowhere fastmade headway
Achieved forward progress
moved forward · made progress · took off · hit the ground running · snowballed
went, goers, nowhere, where, wherever, anywhere, somewhere, whereabouts, fast