preach to the choir
(Redirected from preachin' to the choir)
English
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Audio (General Australian): (file)
Verb
[edit]preach to the choir (third-person singular simple present preaches to the choir, present participle preaching to the choir, simple past and past participle preached to the choir)
- (idiomatic) To speak as if to convince a person or group of something they already believe.
- 1999 August 6, Frank Pellegrini, “Now the Tax Cut Is in the Hands of the Voters”, in Time:
- Jay Branegan says each side will be preaching to the choir. "Democrats will make the argument that's been successful with their base […] [that] Republicans are merely helping the rich."
- 2023 July 17, Rhymer Rigby, “Sick of this Conservative government? That shouldn’t stop you having Tory friends”, in The Guardian[1], →ISSN:
- It hardly needs saying that converting a Tory in a swingable “blue wall” constituency is electorally far more valuable than preaching to the choir in a Labour stronghold.
Usage notes
[edit]- Often used to imply that a speaker is addressing the wrong audience or is deliberately addressing a complaint to an already sympathetic audience.
Synonyms
[edit]- preach to the converted (less common)
- preach to the congregation
Translations
[edit]speaking to those who already believe
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