Idiom
cast pearls before swine
Meaning
To give things of value to those who will not understand or appreciate them.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“Why cast pearls before swine? They won't care.”
“He stopped explaining poetry to them; it felt like casting pearls before swine.”
“She finally understood that sharing her research with the committee was casting pearls before swine, since they had already decided to ignore every expert opinion.”
Examples
simple
“Why cast pearls before swine? They won't care.”
contextual
“He stopped explaining poetry to them; it felt like casting pearls before swine.”
complex
“She finally understood that sharing her research with the committee was casting pearls before swine, since they had already decided to ignore every expert opinion.”
Origin
From the Bible "Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you." – KJV, Matthew 7:6.
Key words
Related idioms
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