# Dropping pearls **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 10, 2019, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-pearls/830876 "2019-03-10T05:16:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2019, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-pearls/830876/21 "2019-03-10T19:37:04Z")
My initial take was “casting pearls before swine” i.e. that which is wasted upon the likes of (someone). Age 62 and spent a good bit of time on the periphery of gay culture in San Francisco during the so called Golden Age before the shit hit the fan. Did not hear this usage or at least forgot it if I did. Guess though that the origin of the idea was indeed the pearls before swine trope with some cross-fertilization with flamboyant pearl necklaces and Hansel and Gretel crumb clues. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2019, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-pearls/830876/22 "2019-03-10T20:44:58Z")
to me the word pearls most likely means hints. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2019, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-pearls/830876/23 "2019-03-10T20:50:28Z")
73, and it refers to dropping hints that you’re gay. I heard it as far back as the 60s. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2019, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-pearls/830876/24 "2019-03-10T22:39:50Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > 73, and it refers to dropping hints that you’re gay. I heard it as far back as the 60s. Thanks, I’m glad I’m not the only one. But it does seem to go back further than I thought (I’m 69, by the way). ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2019, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-pearls/830876/25 "2019-03-10T22:51:14Z")
Nope, I didn’t have a clue. Once explained, it makes sense. UK and sixtyish. j ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2019, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-pearls/830876/26 "2019-03-10T23:18:22Z")
I always knew the term as representing words of wisdom or other valued objects. The term has long been part of medical education, going back to at least Dr. William Osler at Johns Hopkins in the late 1800’s. A pearl was a bit of clinical wisdom, handed down from teacher to student. Never heard it as referring to homosexuality, nor as a hint. Age 61 ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2019, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-pearls/830876/27 "2019-03-11T00:01:57Z")
I’m 51. Its a reference to “Cast Pearls before swine” which is a Jesus thing, I think. Something about don’t bother trying to educate the willfully and determinedly ignorant. It’s akin to why The Damned’s 5th album was called Strawberries-- giving that material to critics was as big a waste as giving strawberries to swine. But without context it’s hard to say exactly what the OP conversation was about. And Beck is 43. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2019, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-pearls/830876/28 "2019-03-11T01:40:52Z")
I would take it to mean I have been giving hints for years and they’ve ignored them or pretended to and now I am going to hit with both barrels. I forgot to say, I am 82 and male. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2019, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-pearls/830876/29 "2019-03-11T04:38:13Z")
I would assume it meant they are either incapable, or stubbornly unwilling, to comprehend the truth. It comes from the Bible, New Testament, Matthew 7:6 “Give not unto dogs that which is sacred; cast not your pearls before swine. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, then turn and rend you." I am over 50. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2019, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-pearls/830876/30 "2019-03-11T06:33:00Z")
I was thinking “Pearls Before Swine”. Never would have guessed “gay”. And frankly it seems like a bit of a stretch. (And ironic that’s where some of the gay posters went) ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2019, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-pearls/830876/31 "2019-03-11T06:40:34Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > I was thinking “Pearls Before Swine”. > > Never would have guessed “gay”. And frankly it seems like a bit of a stretch. (And ironic that’s where some of the gay posters went) What’s ironic about it? Though I’ve never heard it, I first I took it to mean dropping hints about something, then the word “Sweetie” made me think it was in a gay context. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2019, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-pearls/830876/32 "2019-03-11T12:40:45Z")
Another vote for “pearls before swine.” ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2019, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-pearls/830876/33 "2019-03-11T14:20:05Z")
I’ve never heard it before but when I read the OP I got the correct meaning right away. It probably helps that I know the poster is a gay man and you used the word “Sweetie.” ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2019, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-pearls/830876/34 "2019-03-11T14:47:05Z")
I didn’t look at anyone else’s response. I’m a 57 yo female. To me, that phrase means, dropping hints. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dropping-pearls/830876.md?page=1)