Italian Expression of the Day#4

Fare un buco nell'acqua, to make a hole in the water means to give it a go at something and eventually  fail completely. 

The idea behind it is that you can try to make a hole in the water for instance by stirring it very fast with a stick but then fatefully that vortex/hole is doomed to vanish.

There is not an English equivalent. A couple of expressions that could be compared to the Italian's are draw a blank, to beat the air, to make a futile attempt.

Nonostante tutti i nuovi investimenti, abbiamo fatto un bel buco nell'acqua.
Despite all of our investments, we failed, we got nowhere.