you can't get a quart into a pint pot

English

Alternative forms

• you can't fit a quart into a pint pot
• you can't put a quart into a pint pot

Proverb

you can't get a quart into a pint pot

1. You cannot fit a large object or amount in a smaller container.

   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!

   • 1962 October, “New Reading on Railways: The Flying Scotsman 1862-1962. By C. Hamilton Ellis. Allen & Unwin. 6s.”, in Modern Railways, unnumbered page:

     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.

References

• “you can't get a quart into a pint pot”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.