from pillar to post, an irritatingly long and indirect way, especially in order to get or find something
eş: von Hinz zu Kunz
köken: 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.
Ich bin von Pontius zu Pilatus gelaufen, um deine blöde Gesichtscreme zu finden.