can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear

Be unable to turn something ugly or inferior into something attractive or of value, as in No matter how expensive his clothes, he still looks sloppy—you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. This expression was already a proverb in the mid-1500s.

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Example Sentences

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“It follows the old adage that you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear,” Adams said.

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Koeman will say you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear and that he is doing the very best he possibly can with what is available to him.

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As the saying goes, you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.

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Photograph: Rui Vieira/PA According to the old adage, you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. sought to prove that you could in his fourth .

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But you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, as the saying is, and you can't turn a negro or maroon into a true fighting man that will never say die.

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cantling can't make head or tail of

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