silk purse and sows ear

[Niki]

what does it mean

[PaulB]

Hi Niki
I believe it means making large money/profit out of something that cost you very little.

[PaulB]

The actual saying being "You can/can't make a silk purse out of a sows ear" - What a sow is though I have no idea!

[Quizmonster]

The ear of a sow (a female pig) is notoriously rough and bristly, whereas a silk purse is just as obviously smooth, elegant and luxurious. Clearly, you cannot make one out of the other. What it means is that certain things/people are quite unsuitable for certain purposes. For example, a schoolboy who cannot pass GCSE subjects might ask the Careers Master what his chances of becoming a brain surgeon are. The teacher might - rather unkindly - say, "You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, Smithers!"

[FredPuli]

And of course the boy Smithers would ' make a pig's ear of it' (=botch it;make a bad job) if he tried brain-surgery .A pig's ear, male or female, was an almost worthless part of an animal of which it is said 'you can use everything apart from the squeak'. So we make chews for dogs out of them.

[andjac]

they'll eat owt

[archbishop]

andjac - Who will?