put lipstick on a pig
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Pronunciation
Audio (General Australian): (file)
Verb
put lipstick on a pig (third-person singular simple present puts lipstick on a pig, present participle putting lipstick on a pig, simple past and past participle put lipstick on a pig)
- (idiomatic) To superficially alter something in the hope of making it seem more appealing than it is in actuality.
- That new box is like putting lipstick on a pig. It's still the same buggy program inside.
- 1987, Warner Fusselle, Baseball...a Laughing Matter!, page 183:
- Fran Healy, Mets announcer and former Giants catcher (about the possibility of putting a dome on Candlestick): "It would be like putting lipstick on a pig."
Translations
to superficially alter something — see also you can't make a silk purse of a sow's ear
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See also
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