对牛弹琴
duì​niú​tán​qín

to cast pearls before swine

  • created sense approved 对牛弹琴/對牛彈琴 · duì​niú​tán​qín · to cast pearls before swine — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    对牛弹琴 / 對牛彈琴

    duì​niú​tán​qín

    to cast pearls before swine

    Literally "to play the lute to a cow"; used to describe talking to someone who cannot understand your point, or aiming high-level talk at the wrong audience.

    对 (literal) → 对/對 · duì · toward 牛 (literal) → 牛 · niú · ox 弹 (literal) → 弹/彈 · tán · to play; to flick 琴 (literal) → 琴 · qín · guqin

    Changed: simplified, traditional, gloss, definition, pinyin, variant pinyin, variants, separable parts, decomposition

    created sense