The meaning
> This phrase does not relate to the ears of a pig which is a cold dish found in many cuisines around the world.
If you make a pig’s ear of something, you make a mess of it.
«I made so many spelling mistakes on my document that I made a pig’s ear of it. My boss got mad. He asked me if I had ever heard of a spell checker.»
In Richard A. Spears’ book Slang and Euphemism one can also find pig’s ear can be used for a be a glass of beer !
Etymology
> «To make a pig’s ear» is a mid 20th century phrase and means completely botch something up, make a complete mess of it. It is first found in print in a 1950 edition of the Reader’s Digest: “If you make a pig’s ear of the first one, you can try the other one.”
The expression derives from the old proverb ‘you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear’, which dates from the 16th century.
Wrong translation
> Transformer en oreille de cochon ce que je suis en train de faire
> L’oreille du cochon
Correct French idiom
> “Cochonner” son travail
> Travail de cochon (travail baclé)
