Or the joke about two people bowing each other out of the room. A asks B to go first, saying, “Age before beauty.” B does indeed go first and says, “Pearls before swine”!
[…] Glave). The two quickly become as thick as thieves (wait, WHAT THE FRUSH DOES THICK AS THIEVES MEAN????), and they have fun and run around the moors and is never boorsed. But he’s black, […]
kate:
October 25th, 2013 at 11:50 am
‘Pearls before swine’ comes from New Testament: Matthew: 7:6.
Midori:
November 23rd, 2016 at 7:51 am
I am so glad this site exists because I said “pearls before swine” after a young woman said “age before beauty”. You and I may know that is a factoid (to me a joke right back) but this girl didn’t know and got EXTREMELY upset to the point she was crying and sort of yelling at me. In any case I looked it up, found this site, showed it to her (after a couple days for her to cool down) and she understood. Jeez, none of the people in this generation, or even a couple preceding, knows about these phrases.
Josef Kasperovich:
December 12th, 2017 at 1:37 pm
In response to:
“Incidentally, does anyone else remember a group called Pearls Before Swine, a US psychedelic band back in the late 1960s? I used to hear them on the old WNEW-FM, the flagship of free-form FM radio in New York City. Scott Muni, Rosko, and Alison Steele, the Night Bird! Those were the days.”
Those WERE the days! What great programming! Many a late night / early morning listening. Can’t find anything like that now, sadly. Thanks for the memories! (Another tune…)
Scott Bradley:
December 16th, 2019 at 4:34 pm
I’m surprised that the origin of “pearls before swine” was not mentioned to be from the biblical text, Matthew 7:6, where Jesus, delivering His well-known Sermon on the Mount, said not to throw your pearls before swine. Whether you believe the Bible or not, the text is still likely the oldest know to man to contain that phrase.
Scott Bradley:
December 16th, 2019 at 4:35 pm
My apologies, I just noticed someone did mention it. My mistake. I overlooked that short mention. Thanks, Scott
admin:
December 17th, 2019 at 3:16 am
See 4th paragraph in the answer to the question: “But the phrase itself is biblical in origin, from the Gospel of Matthew, recounting the admonition of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount to “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.””
Leave a comment
Search us!
Search The Word Detective and our family of websites:
This is the easiest way to find a column on a particular word or phrase.
To search for a specific phrase, put it between quotation marks. (note: JavaScript must be turned on in your browser to view results.)
Ask a Question!
Puzzled by Posh?
Confounded by Cattycorner?
Baffled by Balderdash?
Flummoxed by Flabbergast?
Perplexed by Pandemonium?
Nonplussed by... Nonplussed?
Annoyed by Alliteration?
Holger:
August 26th, 2011 at 4:31 am
… and I just _have_ to mention the wonderful comic strip series “Pearls Before Swine” by Stephan Pastis:
http://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbeforeswine?ref=comics
Ben Wrankle:
January 12th, 2012 at 12:15 pm
Or the joke about two people bowing each other out of the room. A asks B to go first, saying, “Age before beauty.” B does indeed go first and says, “Pearls before swine”!
Wuthering Heights - WHAT DOES IT MEAN? - Thighs Wide Review | Thighs Wide Shut:
October 4th, 2012 at 10:26 am
[…] Glave). The two quickly become as thick as thieves (wait, WHAT THE FRUSH DOES THICK AS THIEVES MEAN????), and they have fun and run around the moors and is never boorsed. But he’s black, […]
kate:
October 25th, 2013 at 11:50 am
‘Pearls before swine’ comes from New Testament: Matthew: 7:6.
Midori:
November 23rd, 2016 at 7:51 am
I am so glad this site exists because I said “pearls before swine” after a young woman said “age before beauty”. You and I may know that is a factoid (to me a joke right back) but this girl didn’t know and got EXTREMELY upset to the point she was crying and sort of yelling at me. In any case I looked it up, found this site, showed it to her (after a couple days for her to cool down) and she understood. Jeez, none of the people in this generation, or even a couple preceding, knows about these phrases.
Josef Kasperovich:
December 12th, 2017 at 1:37 pm
In response to:
“Incidentally, does anyone else remember a group called Pearls Before Swine, a US psychedelic band back in the late 1960s? I used to hear them on the old WNEW-FM, the flagship of free-form FM radio in New York City. Scott Muni, Rosko, and Alison Steele, the Night Bird! Those were the days.”
Those WERE the days! What great programming! Many a late night / early morning listening. Can’t find anything like that now, sadly. Thanks for the memories! (Another tune…)
Scott Bradley:
December 16th, 2019 at 4:34 pm
I’m surprised that the origin of “pearls before swine” was not mentioned to be from the biblical text, Matthew 7:6, where Jesus, delivering His well-known Sermon on the Mount, said not to throw your pearls before swine. Whether you believe the Bible or not, the text is still likely the oldest know to man to contain that phrase.
Scott Bradley:
December 16th, 2019 at 4:35 pm
My apologies, I just noticed someone did mention it. My mistake. I overlooked that short mention. Thanks, Scott
admin:
December 17th, 2019 at 3:16 am
See 4th paragraph in the answer to the question: “But the phrase itself is biblical in origin, from the Gospel of Matthew, recounting the admonition of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount to “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.””