throw pearls before swine
Offer unappreciated gifts
To throw pearls before swine is to offer something valuable to those who cannot appreciate it.
The phrase comes from a biblical injunction against wasting what is precious on the unworthy.
I tried explaining the poem's beauty to him, but it was like throwing pearls before swine.
- value judgmentAssessment of worth/morality
- metaphorImplied identity comparison
- ethicsStudy of right conduct
- discernmentKeen perception and judgment
- proverbTraditional saying expressing truth
allegory · morality · tilting at windmills · prudence · good faith · wisdom · figurative speech · barking up the wrong tree · human folly · parable · appreciation · idiom · imagery · analogy · rhetorical device · insight · cultural literacy · symbolism