English
Etymology
From the Bible cast ye your pearls before swine , lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you." – KJV Matthew 7:6
Pronunciation
Verb
cast pearls before swine third-person singular simple present casts pearls before swine present participle casting pearls before swine simple past and past participle cast pearls before swine
( idiomatic )
Synonyms
Translations
cast pearls before swine
Aramaic:
Syriac: (please verify ) ܬܪܡܐ ܡܪܓܢܝܬܐ ܩܕܡ ܚܙܝܪܐ ( tarme’ margānyātā’ qdām ħzīre’ )
Chinese:
Mandarin: 對牛彈琴 ／ 对牛弹琴 (zh) ( duìniútánqín ) , 对牛弹琴 (zh) ( duìniútánqín ) ( literally, “to play the lute to cattle” )
Czech: házet perly sviním (cs)
Danish: kaste perler for svin
Dutch: parels voor de zwijnen paarlen voor de zwijnen werpen
Esperanto: ĵeti perlojn antaŭ la porkojn
Finnish: heittää helmiä sikojen eteen helmiä sioille
French: jeter des perles aux pourceaux (fr) , donner de la confiture à des cochons (fr) ( literally, “to give jam to pigs” )
German: Perlen vor die Säue werfen (de)
Greek: μαργαρίτας τοις κυσίν ( margarítas tois kysín )
(deprecated template usage ) {{trans-mid }}Icelandic: kasta perlum fyrir svín
Italian: gettare perle ai porci
Japanese: 豚に真珠 (ja) ( ぶたにしんじゅ, buta-ni shinju ) , 猫に小判 (ja) ( ねこにこばん, neko-ni koban ) ( literally, “gold coins to cats” )
Latin: mittere margaritas ante porcos
Malay: kera diberi bunga ( literally, “to give flowers to a monkey” )
Polish: rzucać perły przed wieprze (pl)
Portuguese: dar pérolas a porcos (pt) , jogar pérolas aos porcos (pt) (other verbs used: atirar lançar
Russian: мета́ть би́сер пе́ред сви́ньями (ru) ( metátʹ bíser péred svínʹjami )
Serbo-Croatian: bacati bisere pred svinje
Spanish: echar perlas a los cerdos dar margaritas a los cerdos ( literally, “to give daisies to pigs” ) , echar margaritas a los cerdos ( literally, “to throw daisies to pigs” ) , no se hizo la miel para la boca del asno
Swedish: kasta pärlor för svin (sv) , kasta pärlor för svinen
See also
