polish a turd
Disguise inherent worthlessness
To polish a turd is to make futile efforts to improve something fundamentally bad or worthless.
The phrase is crude but vivid—no amount of buffing will make excrement presentable.
Often used to criticize cosmetic fixes that ignore underlying problems: The redesign is just polishing a turd.
The expression sometimes appears as You can't polish a turd.
- piss in the windPointless, self-defeating action
- fool's errandHopeless, pointless task
- embellishAdd decorative elements
- putting lipstick on a pigSuperficial improvement to something hopeless
- pig's earBotched attempt, total mess
flaw · defect · irony · refine · tilting at windmills · farce · satire · disparagement · chasing rainbows · rearranging deck chairs · dead horse · absurdity · gilding the lily · spray paint · condemnation · critique · beautify · upgrade
polish a turdcall a spade a spade
Speak without euphemism
tell it like it is · warts and all · brutal honesty · admit defeat · cut your losses
polish, polished, polishing, polisher, polishes, unpolished, turd, turds