Word of the day
To force something into a space or schedule too small for it
verb
The English word
shoehorn
English never changes here, whatever language you are reading in.
When to use it
Informal, mildly humorous, and everywhere in office talk and journalism. The verb always carries a criticism: the thing does not really fit and does not really belong, and someone forced it in anyway. It is almost never used on its own - name the thing being forced, then the preposition that marks movement inside, then the space that is too small for it; when the space is already obvious from the context, the shortened form of that preposition still has to be there. The passive is at least as common as the active, because the person who did the forcing is usually left unnamed.
Examples
They shoehorned a fourth interview into an afternoon that was already full.
The sequel shoehorns a romance into what was a perfectly good thriller.
Goes with
shoehorn something into the schedule
shoehorned into the budget
shoehorn a reference into an essay
shoehorned in at the last minute
Check yourself
Complete the sentence with the English word above.
1. Two extra interviews were ___ the schedule at the last minute.
Show the answer
shoehorned into