North AmericaUnited KingdomAustraliaGeneral Englishinformalvulgarcolloquial
To attempt to make something intrinsically bad, worthless, or unattractive appear better by superficial or cosmetic improvements without changing its essential nature.
To describe an effort as futile because fundamental defects cannot be remedied by surface-level changes.
Examples:
EN: You know, Papa, you can't polish a turd.
ES: ¿Sabes, viejo? No puedes pulir algo podrido.
EN: "I cannot change nature, I cannot polish a turd"?
ES: "No puedo hacer nada, no puedo cambiar la naturaleza, no puedo vestir de seda a una mona"?
EN: Still, as I've said all along, you can't polish a turd.
ES: Aun así, como siempre dije no se le puede sacar brillo a la caca.
EN: Look, kid, you can't polish a turd.
ES: - No se tapa la muerda con nieve.
EN: I got an old saying for you, Drillbit, "You can't polish a turd."
ES: Como decían: "No puedes pulir un pedazo de caca".
ID: Saya punya peribahasa untukmu, Drillbit, "Kamu tidak bisa menyemir kotoran."
EN: My mom always said, "You can polish a turd, but it's still a piece of shit."
ES: Mi mamá siempre decía: "Aunque la mona se vista de seda, mona se queda".
EN: You can't polish a turd.
ES: No se le puede sacar brillo a la mierda.
EN: Yeah, it's like, what's the opposite of, "You cannot polish a turd"?
ES: Sí, es como, ¿qué es lo contrario de: "Usted no puede pulir un turd"?
EN: "You can't polish a turd."
ES: "No se puede pulir una mierda".
EN: They say you can't polish a turd, but you can roll it in glitter, can't you?
ES: Un zurullo puede disimular con un poco de gomina, ¿no?
EN: I'm serious. You're trying to polish a turd the size of your whole kitchen, all right?
ES: No intentes ponerle un lacito a una cagada como tu cocina de grande.
EN: But don't polish a turd and tell me it's a diamond.
HI: पपिहा बोल न पीव, कहै मैं के कियो।
EN: Some people say you can't polish a turd.
HI: कुछ लोग कहते हैं कि आप सट्टेबाज को नहीं हरा सकते।
EN: don't bother , you can't polish a turd .
HI: मुजे तू सकता है चून नहीं
EN: I put make-up on these fat-ass women ... and you know what, like my mama always said, "you can polish a turd but it's still a piece of shit"
ID: Aku meletakkan make-up pada wanita-wanita gemuk dan kau tahu apa, seperti mama saya selalu katakan, "Kau dapat memoles sebuah kotoran tapi masih kotor"