turd in the punchbowl

idiom

Something that ruins or spoils everything else; a nuisance or problem; an unpleasant or disagreeable detail.

Anchors to

Related idioms2entries

01
polish a turd
To work on a time-consuming and ultimately pointless or impossible task; to try to perfect what is inherently bad.
02
you can't polish a turd
Something inherently unfavourable or unpleasant cannot be improved.

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