对牛弹琴

Traditional: 對牛彈琴

duì niú tán qín

Dictionary entry

lit. to play the lute to a cow (idiom)

What does 对牛弹琴 mean?

对牛弹琴 (duì niú tán qín) has the following dictionary meaning.

1lit. to play the lute to a cow (idiom)

2fig. offering a treat to an unappreciative audience

3to cast pearls before swine

4caviar to the general

5to preach to deaf ears

6to talk over sb's head

Character breakdown

Open each character to see its own meanings and vocabulary links.

对duìright; correct · towards; at; for 牛Niúsurname Niu 弹dàncrossball · bullet 琴qínguqin 古琴[gu3 qin2] (a type of zither) · musical instrument in general

Reviewed examples

No reviewed example dialogues yet. This page only shows verified dictionary data until a context lesson is published.

How to pronounce 对牛弹琴

对牛弹琴

duì niú tán qín

Tap to hear Mandarin.

Base dictionary data: CC-CEDICT · CC BY-SA 4.0.