Dame Partington自不量力的人

【使用地区】：英国

【释义】：

Anyone futilely trying to hold back progress or natural forces．The legenday Dame Partington had tried to mop up the Atlantic Ocean，which was flooding her cottage in Devon．English politician and author Sydney Smith alluded to her in an 1831 speech condemning the opposition of the House of Lords to reform measures．

指那些试图阻止社会进步或改变自然力量但却徒劳无益的人。传说Dame Partington曾试图用拖把拖干大西洋的水，因为海水常常淹没她在德文岛的住房。英国政治家和作家Sydney Smith(1771－1845)在1831年谴责上议院反对改革措施的演讲中，曾提到过她。