make a pig's ear of

make a pig's ear of (something)

To do a very poor job of something; to ruin something completely. Primarily heard in UK. I'm going to need to start this table over again from scratch—I really made a pig's ear of it. Janet made a pig's ear of the Jefferson account, so I'm going to need you to come in at the weekend and put things in order.See also: ear, make, of

make a pig's ear of

bungle; make a mess of. British informal This probably developed with humorous reference to the phrase make a silk purse out of a sow's ear (see silk).See also: ear, make, of