A condition suffered by a person or persons that strive towards a given goal but with
absolutely no idea how their actions or planned actions will actually achieve the desired result.
Phrase derived from the
underpants gnomes characters from the TV series 'South Park' that collected and stockpiled used
underpants for the purpose of making a profit but had no idea of how to actually achieve this.
Demonstrators protesting for nuclear disarmament but not considering how they would protect the country when nuclear equipped aggressors decide to attack suffer a severe case of
Underpants Gnome Syndrome.
Ex UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown suffered a major case of
Underpants Gnome Syndrome when he thought that reducing VAT (sales Tax) by 2.5% last year would
significantly stimulate consumer spending.