hiding to nothing

A difficult situation that is unlikely to result in success. Primarily heard in UK. I'm on a hiding to nothing right now trying to persuade my teacher to give me an extra credit assignment.

Common Names:

Name	Pronounced	Usage
Ruth (1)	ROOTH (English), ROOT (German)	English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Spanish, Biblical, Biblical Latin
Dar	-	Hebrew
Madlyn	MAD-lin	English
Ishild	-	Ancient Germanic (Hypothetical)
Baron	['bærən]
Khayri	-	Arabic