idioms using “circle”

Square the circle

To solve a problem that is very difficult

“The team has worked for two weeks and still hasn’t been able to square the circle.”

Run circles around

To outperform someone else

“Sekiguchi-san writes code quickly; he runs circles around the other programmers.”

Go round in circles

To work but not progress due to many changes in direction

“The client keeps changing their sales strategy so we just keep going round in circles.”

Talk in circles

Talk in a confusing manner

“Don’t you wish the CEO would quit talking in circles? Why doesn’t he just answer the question?”

Vicious circle

One bad thing causes another bad thing which causes the first bad thing to occur again

“It’s a vicious circle; we cut the training budget, which means that our untrained workers make faulty products. This causes profits to fall, which means we cut the training budget again. ”