square peg in a round hole
名词 n.
英 /skwɛə ˌpɛɡ ɪn‿ə ɹaʊnd ˈhəʊl/|/skwɛː-/
美 /skwɛəɹ ˌpɛɡ ɪn‿ə ɹaʊnd ˈhoʊl/
英文释义
名词 n.
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Someone or something that does not fit well or at all in a certain setting; a misfit; hence, someone or something that will not succeed in an endeavour, except possibly with much effort and force.
— ["]Now, your son's case is really your case—you see it through the medium of your likings and dislikings—and insist upon forcing a square peg into a round hole, because in a round hole you, being a round peg, feel tight and comfortable. Now I call that irrational." / "I don't see why my son has any right to fancy himself a square peg," said the farmer, doggedly, "when his father, and his grandfather, and his great-grandfather, have been round pegs; and it is agin' nature for any creature not to take after its own kind.["]
词源
Commonly associated with a shape sorter, a baby toy that consists of (often wooden) pegs that need to be inserted through holes in a box, using the hole that has the same shape as the peg. While all the shapes are of roughly equal size, each peg will only fit in the hole that has the same shape. Inserting a peg in a different hole would require either modifying or breaking the toy.
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数据来源: Wiktionary