The meaning
> IIt is not possible to produce something refined, admirable, or valuable from something which is unrefined, unpleasant, or of little or no value.
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.
One can also say “to put lipstick on a pig”. Anyhow by the end it is still a pig!
From a painting by Bryan Dahlvang
Etymology
> An English clergyman Stephen Gosson published the romantic story Ephemerides in 1579 and in it referred to people who were engaged in a hopeless task:
«Seekinge too make a silke purse of a Sowes eare.»
It alludes to what might be the result if someone did try to make something from a sow’s ear – not a silk purse but a complete mess.
Wrong translation
> Vous ne pouvez pas faire un porte monnaie en soie avec une oreille de truie
Correct French idiom
> Tout bois n’est pas bon pour faire flèche
