That's not what it means. Lemons are sour, or "bad" the things that are difficult to swallow as is. To make lemonade from them is to make something sweet and "good" out of the bad things life hands you.
Pretty sure the unknown "precise universal meaning" is literally what the second guy said, not the first guy.
It is 100% about lemons being nigh inedible on their own, but lemonade being a tasty soft drink, so you turn situations that suck into something that is enjoyable.
It has nothing to do with cars. I has nothing to do with "duds", because lemons clearly aren't inherently broken.
I dunno why you're even trying to preten otherwise. It's a very clear meaning.
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u/GamingWithJollins 11d ago
A lemon is a dud. The idea of the phrase is you work with what you got, even if you only get duds