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kasta pärlor för svin

Meaning: To offer something valuable to someone who cannot appreciate or will waste it.

Language: Swedish

Literally: cast pearls before swine

Category: Animals

Origin: Biblical allusion from Matthew 7:6, where casting pearls before swine represents wasting precious things on those incapable of valuing them.

More idioms — Animals

  • ingen ko på isen — There is no danger or immediate problem; the situation is safe.
  • inte göra en fluga förnär — To be harmless and gentle, incapable of hurting even the smallest creature.
  • som vatten på en gås — Something that has no effect or makes no impression, sliding off harmlessly.
  • lysa med lånta fjädrar — To present oneself falsely by adopting the qualities, accomplishments, or possessions of…
  • surt sa räven — To claim that something undesirable was not worth having anyway, as a way of masking disa…
  • kupować kota w worku — To purchase something without examining it first, risking getting a poor deal.

More Swedish idioms

  • lämna någon åt sitt öde — To abandon someone, leaving them to deal with consequences on their own.
  • jämna med marken — To completely destroy or demolish a building or structure.
  • med glimten i ögat — To say or do something in a joking or cheeky manner, with playful mischief rather than se…
  • få bukt med — To overcome, resolve, or take control of a difficult problem or challenging situation.
  • få betalt för gammal ost — To be punished or retaliated against for a past wrong, to receive belated payback.
  • tidens tand — The slow decay and wearing away of things through the passage of time, the gradual damage…

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