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Meaning of you can't get a quart into a pint pot | Babel Free

Phrase CEFR C2

Definitions

You cannot fit a large object or amount in something smaller.
literally
One cannot achieve the impossible.
figuratively

Examples

“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.”

CEFR level

C2

Mastery
This word is part of the CEFR C2 vocabulary — mastery level.

See also

you can't go home again you can't judge a book by its cover you can't keep a good man down you can't make a silk purse of a sow's ear you can't make an omelette without breaking eggs you can't make this stuff up