You can't paint the Mona Lisa with crayons.
Kind of related to yours, "You're putting lipstick on a pig"
this post was submitted on 25 May 2024
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Can't demand with a laddle if you are offered a spoonful
"Even if you give an ape a ring, it'll remain an ugly thing." -Netherlands.
A golden ring specifically
In Australia there's "you can't polish a turd"
But you can roll it in glitter
We use this one also
In Danish we have "you can't cut the hair off a bald guy"
巧妇难为无米之炊 -- "even the cleverest house wife cannot cook without rice".
The proverb you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear means you can’t create a fine product from inferior materials.
I'd argue it's closer to 朽木不可雕^. 巧婦難為無米之炊 (巧妇难为无米之炊) is more like you can't make stuff without the necessary requirements.
^朽木不可雕: Lit. Rotten wood can't be carved, metaphorically You can’t teach a student that is too dumb.
... Well actually no. Upon looking into these 3 idioms further while composing this comment, I leaned more and more towards that 巧婦難為無米之炊 is actually closer. Why? Because 朽木不可雕 applies only to humans and it puts more of a focus on the rotten wood (aka the dumb student).
I guess this comment was kind of useless lol but I decided to post it anyway because I put in way too much effort
You can hope in one hand and shit in the other, see which one fills up first.
That is actually pretty funny.
It's incredibly fun to drop on people when they innocently 'I hope blah blah blah.
Oh my god, I did not expect to be hit with the wisdom stick THAT hard
Don't worry it missed you.
Ayyylmao jk love you.
Dare I ask which country speaks words that cannot be truer.
Edit: saw your instance...
That's right. It's from New Zealand.
In sweden there is the same but with spit in one hand, wish in the other.
Sorry, sir, I like shit.
“You can’t expect pears out of an elm tree” or “No le pidas peras al olmo”
Isn't that more like "you can't ask an elm tree for pears?"
And even more literally "don't ask for pears to the elm?"
German for "like father, like son" is "the apple doesn't fall far off the tree trunk". But many people nowadays use "the apple doesn't fall far off the pear tree", which is a variant that I think originally was supposed to suggest illegitimate fatherhood.
That’s interesting, because “the apple doesn’t/didn’t fall far from the tree” is a known Anglophonic saying that basically means that a child turned out a lot like a parent (gender not necessarily specified). I wonder if one is a calque of the other.
The above poster isnt really correct. We have an actual saying that is the literal translation: "Der Apfel fällt nicht weit vom Stamm ". And it means exactly what you suggest, a child being very much like one of their parents in one way or another.
Like father, like son exists as well, "Wie der Vater so der Sohn".
You're right, I forgot about the fact that there's a literal translation. But besides being gender-neutral, both sayings mean the same, no?
My main point was that many Germans now regularly use the pear-tree malapropism, however.
Lmao your username 😭
You can put your boots in the oven, but that don't make 'em biscuits
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