make a spoon or spoil a horn

make a spoon or spoil a horn

To do whatever it takes to achieve or accomplish something, even if it ruins something as a result. An allusion to the former use of cattle horns for making cutlery. I knew the boy would be a valuable asset to us, the type who would make a spoon or spoil a horn. She was bound and determined to use her family's fortune to create an organization that served the poorest in society, and she was willing to make a spoon or spoil a horn trying to do it.
See also: horn, make, spoil, spoon
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

make a spoon or spoil a horn

make a determined effort to achieve something, whatever the cost.
This phrase alludes to the former practice of making spoons out of the horns of cattle or sheep.
See also: horn, make, spoil, spoon
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • a ghost at the feast
  • a/the feel of (something)
  • (I) wouldn't (do something) if I were you
  • a straw will show which way the wind blows
  • a crack at (someone or something)
  • all right
  • (you) wanna make something of it?
  • all for the best
  • a thing of the past
  • a slew of (something)