对牛弹琴 (duì niú-tán qín) — (idiom) to waste effort on someone who doesn't appreciate it; to cast pearls before swine
Definition
A chengyu meaning to waste your effort explaining something to someone who can't understand or appreciate it. The image comes from playing a lute for a cow — the cow just doesn't get music.
idiom
to waste effort on someone who doesn't appreciate itto cast pearls before swine
Examples
- ，对牛弹琴。Tā gēn běn bù dǒng yì shù, nǐ gěi tā jiǎng zhè fú huà jiǎn zhí jiù shì duì niú-tán qín.He doesn't understand art at all — explaining this painting to him is like casting pearls before swine.
- ，对牛弹琴？Duì zhè xiē méi xué guò wù lǐ de rén jiǎng xiāng duì lùn, bú shì duì niú-tán qín ma?Talking about relativity to people who haven't studied physics — isn't that like playing the lute to a cow?
- 对牛弹琴，。Bié duì niú-tán qín le, tā gēn běn tīng bú jìn qù.Don't waste your breath — he's not listening at all.
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