猫に小判 Give a Cat a Gold Coin

猫に小判 Cast Pearls to a Swine

 

猫に小判

Japanese ねこ に こばん neko ni koban Literal Give money to a cat English Equivalent To cast pearls before swine Notes 猫に neko ni (give) to a cat [に shows direction]; A 小判 koban was an oval gold coin used during the Edo period; 豚に真珠 buta ni shinju Pearls to a pig, from the Bible, is also used often and means basically the same thing.