make a silk purse

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

Example Sentences

No manager can make a silk purse out of a sow's ear though.

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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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Who, after all, would have imagined that a bull’s head was hidden in the seat and handlebars of a bicycle until Picasso discovered it for us; did he not, almost literally, “make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear”? No wonder the artist’s way of working is so resistant to any set rules, while the craftsperson encourages standardization and regularity.

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It takes all sorts to make a silk purse but birds of a feather flock in your cap.

Read more on The New Yorker