make a silk purse

Idioms  

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

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Example Sentences

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

From Washington Post • Nov. 11, 2021

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.

From BBC • Sep. 22, 2021

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

From The New Yorker • Sep. 2, 2019

But I must say, you did make a silk purse out of this.

From New York Times • Jun. 16, 2017

We cannot make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, though the plasticity of character under nurture is a fact which gives us all hope.

From Introduction to the Science of Sociology by Park, Robert Ezra