What do you Mean by ‘Casting Pearls Before Swine’?

And where did this phrase come from?

To cast pearls before swine means to give things of value to those who do not appreciate them; to waste something good on someone who doesn’t care about it.

Swine means pig.

This expression comes from a Biblical quotation. Jesus gives advice to his followers on how they should behave. He says that you should not give what is holy to dogs nor should you cast your pearls before swine because they will trample them under their feet and then they turn and attack you.

‘Cast’ in this expression is used in the sense of ‘put’ — You shouldn’t put pearls before swine.

By pearls, he meant the words of wisdom or the message of God and by swine, he meant people who did not believe in God. It was a waste to offer the teachings of God to such people because they didn’t care for it. They didn’t appreciate it.

Let’s see an example —

“Corporate organized a classical music event in their annual fest but the employees didn’t like it. It was like casting pearls before swine.”

It means that classical music, which is considered one of the most sacred forms of music, was not appreciated by the employees. It was a waste of such treasured music on people who didn’t understand its true value. It was like casting pearls before swine.

I hope you found this story interesting. If you did, buy my full course on Udemy or watch it for free on Skillshare by signing up here. This course covers nearly 380 idioms with their origins and backstories.

Hi, I am Gauri Shanker, a Vocab teacher and enthusiast. I teach vocabulary in a fun and engaging way. You can check out my courses here.