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cast pearls before swine



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Idioms and Phrases

Give something of value of someone who won't appreciate it, as in The old professor felt that lecturing on Dante to unruly undergraduates would be casting pearls before swine . This term comes from the New Testament (Matthew 7:6), appearing in Tyndale's translation (1526). It was repeated often by writers from Shakespeare to Dickens and remains current.
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Example Sentences

I am going to follow the example of the man who cast pearls before swine—I'm going to cast you a pearl from one of my own poems.

Some would not rightly appreciate the value of your frankness, and never cast pearls before swine.

If we cast pearls before swine, my boy, we must not be surprised to find them taken for the seeds of cabbage-heads.

Herewith I pause, for why should I cast pearls before swine?

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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