Dictionary
Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.
you can't get a quart into a pint pot en · X
Meanings
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(literally) You cannot fit a large object or amount in something smaller.
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(figuratively) One cannot achieve the impossible.
They've asked me to get from London to New York by five o'clock, but it's half past four now, and you can't get a quart into a pint pot!
The centenary of Britain's most famous train has called for a commemorative and descriptive work and in this 40-page illustrated booklet the author has tried—with some success, to pour a quart into a pint pot.
1962 October, “New Reading on Railways: The Flying Scotsman 1862-1962. By C. Hamilton Ellis. Allen & Unwin. 6s.”, in Modern Railways, unnumbered page:
Forms