•to play the nine men's morris · to twiddle one's thumbs (to circle one's thumbs around one another, with the fingers interlaced, usually done out of boredom or to show disinterest)
to fool around, twiddle one's thumbs, stare at the wall, laze, goof off
köken: Literally, 'to dry a meat roll', where the 'meat roll' is perceived as a euphemism for penis (thus the word has a vulgar tinge); in other words, do something meaningless.