Have you ever tried to ’dress up’ something unappealing in a vain attempt to make it look better? For instance, that tired old sofa is still looking tired, even though you’ve put a ’luxury throw’ on it, and that ugly concrete yard is still a concrete yard, even though you’ve adorned it with a couple of pot plants. These attempts to make something unpleasant look more attractive which, despite our best efforts, are decidedly unsuccessful, are classic examples of lipstick on a pig.

譯文：你有沒有曾經(jīng)“精心裝扮”一個(gè)看著很不入眼的事物想讓它好看一點(diǎn)，結(jié)果發(fā)現(xiàn)所有努力都是徒勞?比如，就算你在那個(gè)破舊的沙發(fā)上鋪了一個(gè)“奢華的布蓋”，它看上去還是那么破舊;還有那個(gè)難看的水泥地小院子，并沒有因?yàn)槟銉A心擺了幾個(gè)盆栽就變得美麗宜人。所有這些傾盡力量想要把難看的事物變得更加美好，但結(jié)局注定失敗的行為都是“給豬涂口紅”的典型例證。

In fact the idea of vain attempts at converting something from ugly to attractive, as intended by use of lipstick on a pig, is similar to that of the famous old proverb “You can’t make a silk purse from a sow’s ear”, which dates back to the mid-16th century.

譯文：其實(shí)，“給豬涂口紅”跟16世紀(jì)中葉很有名的一句諺語“母豬的耳朵做不成絲綢錢包”表達(dá)的意思差不多，都比喻想要把丑陋的事物變美好而做的無用功。