Meaning Of The Phrase Lipstick On A Pig

The authoritative topic by topic dictionary of american lingoes from all walks of life by paul dickson pocket books 1990 1998.

Meaning of the phrase lipstick on a pig. Putting lipstick on a pig. To put lipstick on a pig means making superficial or cosmetic changes to a product in a futile effort to disguise its fundamental failings. Usually used on ugly broads when they put on a skirt and some lipstick and well they still look like the same digusting pig. Idioms populate the world of neologisms less often than other word classes so it s always a refreshing change to see a new idiom gain currency.

Put lipstick on a pig to make some superficial or cosmetic change to something so that it seems more attractive appealing or successful than it really is. A hog in a silk waistcoat is still a hog meaning circumstances do not alter a man s nature. The actual text of the quoted phrase. Number of times the quoted phrase appeared in our dataset.

Lipstick on a pig some superficial or cosmetic change to something so that it seems more attractive appealing or successful than it really is. And lipstick on a pig has hit the spotlight in spectacular style popularised by no less than the us president himself barack obama. Car salesmen are generally good at putting lipstick on a pig because they are always selling unroadworthy buckets of shit and try and hide their shitfulness by tarting them up. Lipstick on a pig is a figure of speech used to describe attempts to make an ugly fact policy or item seem more appealing.

Lipstick on a pig slang for when someone tries to dress something up but is still that something. You can put lipstick on a pig but it s still a pig. Spurgeon noted another variation in his 1887 compendium of proverbs the salt cellars. Word length of the quote.

A term used by many generally in reference to someone who may be trying to make something or someone look appealing or attractive when it quite clearly will not work or will only deceive the dumbest of people. You put lipstick on a pig it s still a pig by doo doo brown january 09 2004. These attempts fail in the speaker s view because the object s essential nature cannot be changed by surface or cosmetic adjustments.