you can't polish a turd

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

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Proverb

you can't polish a turd

1. (idiomatic, vulgar) Something inherently unfavourable or unpleasant cannot be improved.

   Synonym: you can't polish shit

Translations

something inherently bad cannot be improved — see you can't make a silk purse of a sow's ear

See also

• polish a turd
• put lipstick on a pig