make a silk purse of a sow's ear

make a silk purse of a sow's ear
To produce something refined, admirable, or valuable from something which is unrefined, unpleasant, or of little or no value.

"He always was an unmannerly cub," said Master Headley, as he read the letter. "Well, Ive done my best to make a silk purse of a sows 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

  • make a silk purse... — See 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 — 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 — ► 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. — 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 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

  • 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

  • make a silk purse out of a sow's ear — to try to improve a person or object that cannot be changed …   English 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

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