Noun
rope of sand (plural ropes of sand)
(idiomatic) Something incohesive, flimsy, disconnected or unreliable
I danced along a colored wind/ Dangled from a rope of sand. Tom Waits
The history of persecution is a history of endeavours to cheat nature, to make water run up hill, to twist a rope of sand. It makes no difference whether the actors be many or one, a tyrant or a mob. Ralph Waldo Emerson
The history of persecution is a history of endeavors to cheat nature, to make water run up hill, to twist a rope of sand. Ralph Waldo Emerson
You would weave a rope of sand. Latin Proverb
Putting a withe around sand. Compare the English "a rope of sand.”. Irish Proverb