preach to the choir

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU):

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Verb

preach to the choir

1. (idiomatic) To speak as if to convince a person or group of something they already believe.
   • 1999, Frank Pellegrini, "Now the Tax Cut Is in the Hands of the Voters," Time, 6 Aug.:

     Jay Branegan says each side will be preaching to the choir. "Democrats will make the argument that's been successful with their base . . . [that] Republicans are merely helping the rich."

Usage notes

• Often used to imply that a speaker is addressing the wrong audience or is deliberately addressing a compliant, non-challenging audience.

Synonyms

• preach to the converted (less common)

Translations

speaking to those that already believe

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 多此一舉／多此一举 (zh) (duōcǐyījǔ), 多此一举 (zh) (duōcǐyījǔ)

• Finnish: puhua uskovaisille
• French: prêcher un converti (fr), enfoncer une porte ouverte (fr), prêcher un convaincu (fr)
• German: offene Türen einrennen
• Hungarian: nyitott kapukat dönget (hu)
• Italian: fare la predica al coro, sfondare una porta aperta
• Japanese: please add this translation if you can
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: slå inn åpne dører (no)

• Polish: wyważać otwarte drzwi
• Portuguese: pregar aos convertidos
• Russian: ^{(please verify)} ломиться в открытую дверь (ru) (lomitʹsja v otkrytuju dverʹ)
• Spanish: hablar a Noé de lluvia
• Swedish: predika för de redan frälsta, slå in en öppen dörr

See also

• preach to deaf ears