对牛弹琴
- Literal
- to play the qin (zither) to a cow
- Figurative
- To address someone incapable of understanding; to speak over an audience's head and waste one's words on the wrong listener.
Where does 对牛弹琴 come from?
The musician Gongming Yi played a refined melody on his qin before an ox, but the animal kept grazing, paying no heed; not because the music was poor, but because it was not meant for its ears. He then plucked the strings to mimic the buzzing of a mosquito and the lowing of a stray calf, and at last the ox pricked up its ears and swished its tail, listening. The moral is that one's message must suit its audience.
Source (出处): 《理惑论》（牟子）
How is 对牛弹琴 used? Two examples
- 跟他讲艺术简直是对牛弹琴，他根本不感兴趣。
Talking to him about art is like playing the zither to a cow; he's simply not interested.
- 我费尽口舌解释半天，没想到是对牛弹琴。
I wore myself out explaining for ages, only to realize I was casting pearls before swine.
In Wanyu, all 400 chengyu have audio on every sentence, and you can save them to your decks and review them with spaced repetition. Free.
