The phrase is typically said, "You cant fit a square peg into a round hole." Often it is shortened to simply "square peg, round hole." Something or someone that does not fit well or at all; something that will not succeed as attempted, except possibly with much force and effort, or alteration of either the peg or the hole or both beyond recognition.
Etymology:
- The Oxford English Dictionary has as its earliest citation Albany Fonblanque, England under Seven Administrations, 1837, "Sir Robert Peel was a smooth round peg, in a sharp-cornered square hole, and Lord Lyndenurst is a rectangular square-cut peg, in a smooth round hole."
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After they married, he became a nudist and she found religion. They tried to make it work but neither wanted to change for the other. In the end, you can't fit a square peg into a round hole.
Submitted on July 07, 2010
Modified by TriplePurple on March 22, 2024
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Nearby phrases
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"square peg into a round hole." Phrases.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 17 Apr. 2024. <https://www.phrases.com/phrase/square-peg-into-a-round-hole_15055>.
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