I was thinking about the phrase ''You can't make a silk purse out of a pig's ear", as that's what I do want to do (not literally) and found this posting on http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/26/messages/1199.html. So it seems some scientists did take the saying literally:
Posted by R. Berg on December 13, 2003
In Reply to: Re: Pig's ear posted by Ward on December 13, 2003
: : The phrase finder says that pig's ear means beer (a cockney rhyming slang). But, I have heard of making a pig's ear of something, meaning to make a bad job of something. Where does this come from?
:
: ::: The expression I'm used to is "you can't make a silk purse out of a pigs ear" -- suggesting that some improvement projects of different kinds are doomed to failure. I've heard it used when someone has introduced a new friend and a critic points to a chequred past on the part of that individual and essentially says --- 'the cat doesn't change his spots'.
: Some years ago, a group of scientists who had more money than brains set out to convert the proteins and chemicals in a sows ear into a silky purse. They spent a great deal and were educated to the truth of this expression.
: ::: The expression I'm used to is "you can't make a silk purse out of a pigs ear" -- suggesting that some improvement projects of different kinds are doomed to failure. I've heard it used when someone has introduced a new friend and a critic points to a chequred past on the part of that individual and essentially says --- 'the cat doesn't change his spots'.
: Some years ago, a group of scientists who had more money than brains set out to convert the proteins and chemicals in a sows ear into a silky purse. They spent a great deal and were educated to the truth of this expression.
I heard that the scientists DID produce a silk purse from a sow's ear.'
No comments:
Post a Comment