A: The traffic was really bad today. I promise I will be punctual on our next date. B: I’m giving you one last chance, so don’t make a pig’s ear of it! Note: This idiom means “to do a very poor job of something, ruin something completely.” Primarily heard in the U.K., 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. The English clergyman Stephen Gosson published the romantic story “Ephemerides” in 1579 and in it referred to people who were engaged in a hopeless task. “Making a pig’s ear of” 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. |