square the circle

Idioms  

1. Try to do the impossible, as in Getting that bill through the legislature is the same as trying to square the circle. This idiom alludes to the impossibility of turning a circle into a square. John Donne may have been the first to use it (Sermons, 1624): “Go not thou about to square either circle (God or thyself).”

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Example Sentences

But the group’s vagueness as it tries to square the circle of its own positions has fueled suspicion.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 25, 2024

Throughout the pandemic era growth has largely exceeded that rate even as inflation has continued to fall, and Powell at his post-meeting press conference on Wednesday tried to square the circle.

From Reuters • Nov. 3, 2023

“I had been trying to square the circle of how do I back off this stuff without selling out my colleagues or my friends that make the shows,” Thorn, 41, said.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 20, 2023

This can then lead to an identity crisis, attempts to square the circle and, potentially, a reversion to the norm — with, one hopes, a few healthy edits.

From Washington Post • Mar. 24, 2022

Hippias of Elis invented a certain curve called the quadratrix, by means of which he could square the circle and trisect any angle.

From The Teaching of Geometry by Smith, David Eugene