- make a silk purse out of a sow's ear
- to try to improve a person or object that cannot be changed
English dictionary. 2014.
make a silk purse out of a sow's ear
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make a silk purse out of a sow's ear — make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear phrase to try to improve a person or object that cannot be changed Thesaurus: not possiblesynonym Main entry: silk * * * make a silk ˌpurse out of a sow s ˈear f8 idiom to succeed in making sth good out of… … Useful english dictionary
you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear — 1518 A. BARCLAY Eclogues (EETS) v. 360 None can..make goodly silke of a gotes flece. 1579 S. GOSSON Ephemerides of Phialo 62v Seekinge..too make a silke purse of a Sowes eare, that when it shoulde close, will not come togeather. 1672 W. WALKER… … Proverbs new dictionary
You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. — old fashioned something that you say which means you cannot make a good quality product using bad quality materials. To make chairs that ll last you need good strong pieces of wood. You can t make a silk purse out of a sow s ear … New idioms dictionary
you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear — ► you can t make a silk purse out of a sow s ear proverb you can t create a fine product from inferior materials. Main Entry: ↑sow … English terms dictionary
you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear — you cannot improve the quality of junk; cannot make gold from iron When Hal put a Mercedes star on his Ford, I said, You can t make a silk purse out of a sow s ear … English idioms
you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear — If something isn t very good to start with, you can t do much to improve it … The small dictionary of idiomes
You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear — If something isn t very good to start with, you can t do much to improve it … Dictionary of English idioms
make a silk purse... — See you can t make a silk purse out of a sow s ear … English idioms
Sow's ear effect — The sow s ear effect is a term used in economics to describe when a country is unable to raise its productivity or per capita gross domestic product relative to other countries of similar development despite adjustments in macroeconomic policy,… … Wikipedia
sow — Ⅰ. sow [1] ► VERB (past sowed; past part. sown or sowed) 1) plant (seed) by scattering it on or in the earth. 2) plant (an area) with seed. 3) spread or introduce (something unwelcome). DERIV … English terms dictionary
