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
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 English & Latin Proverbs 44 You cannot make a..silk purse of a sows ear; a scholar of a blockhead.
1834 MARRYAT Peter Simple I. xii. The master..having been brought up in a collier, he could not be expected to be very refined... ‘It was impossible to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.’
1915 D. H. LAWRENCE Rainbow i. You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear, as he told his mother very early, with regard to himself.
1985 M. SLUNG Momilies 83 You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.
Proverbs new dictionary.
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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. — 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 — 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
sow — noun see a sow may whistle, though it has an ill mouth for it you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear verb see sow dry and set wet as you sow, so you reap they that sow the wind shall reap the whirlwind … Proverbs new dictionary
make — see make hay while the sun shines as you make your bed, so you must lie upon it you cannot make bricks without straw clothes make the man make haste slowly if you don’t make mistakes you don’t make anything … Proverbs new dictionary
