Square peg in a round hole
- This article is about the phrase. For the Apparatjik album, see Square Peg In A Round Hole.
A square peg in a round hole is an idiomatic expression which describes the unusual individualist who could not fit into a niche of his society.[1]
English literature
The British novelist Edward Bulwer Lytton published the metaphor in a late 19th century book:
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- Kenelm Chillingly asks, "Does it not prove that no man, however wise, is a good judge of his own case? 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."
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- The farmer responded, "I don't see why my son has any right to fancy himself a square peg ... 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."
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- -- Edward Bulwer Lynton in Kenelm Chillingly, His Adventures and Opinions (1873).[2]
Business management
This idiomatic expression has proven to be quite durable into the 21st century. It is used in a range of contemporary business-related circumstances; and illustrative examples include:
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- "As they say, you can't fit a square peg in a round hole. If your boss is like that round hole and you are that square peg, you aren't going to fit in unless you re-shape your edges."
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- -- Gini Graham Scott in A Survival Guide for Working with Bad Bosses: Dealing with Bullies, Idiots, Back-stabbers, and Other Managers from Hell (2005).[3]
Visual meaning
The idiomatic expression conjures a visual image, and this is evolving independently, e.g.,
- "We intend to show that Israel needs a security process as well as a peace process.... To continue with the old diplomatic approach would be like hammering square pegs into round holes." -- Dore Gold[4]
- "... relating back to the title of the panel session, square peg in a round hole; well, maybe, but sometimes you can force that peg in and make it stick. We seem to be somewhere between a feeling of cautious optimism and open-minded skepticism about the workability of disease management in fee-for-service Medicare. -- Bruce Steinwald, Director of Economics and Payment Issues in the Health Division at the U.S. General Accounting Office [5]
See also
Notes
- ^ Wallace, Irving. (1957) The Square Pegs: Some Americans Who Dared to be Different, p. 10.
- ^ Lytton, Edward Bulwer. (1873). Kenelm Chillingly, His Adventures and Opinions, p. 155.
- ^ Scott, Gini Graham. (2005). A Survival Guide for Working with Bad Bosses: Dealing with Bullies, Idiots, Back-stabbers, and Other Managers from Hell, p. 153.
- ^ Gold, Dore. "Israel Soldiers On," Time. February 19, 2001.
- ^ Square peg in a round hole? Disease management in traditional Medicare. Special Committee on Aging, U.S. Senate, November 4, 2003.
References