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Are you familiar with the phrase "Preaching To The Choir"?

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spidey07 said:
It has NEVER meant that. So you think the choir thinks the preacher is stupid?

You're a moran.
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lol-cat-middle-finger.jpg
 
Drako said:
What happens if the said preacher has no way of knowing what the said choirs opinion is? Is he stupid becuase he's not a mind reader? :hmm:
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no.

the term references a preacher who is trying to CONVERT the choir to his religion.

by the fact their in his choir... they've ALREADY converted.
:colbert:
 
guyver01 said:
no.

the term references a preacher who is trying to CONVERT the choir to his religion.

by the fact their in his choir... they've ALREADY converted.
:colbert:
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So by your logic a preacher is not supposed to preach to the converted? He should only preach to non-believers? Brilliant!
 
The expression "preaching to the choir" is not meant to be an insult, at least I've never heard it used that way. It is merely used to express agreement.
 
Drako said:
The expression "preaching to the choir" is not meant to be an insult, at least I've never heard it used that way. It is merely used to express agreement.
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I guess I'm not sure if I've heard it used as an outright insult, but I've definitely heard it uttered in a way to emphasize annoyance.
 
[FONT=Georgia, serif][FONT=Arial, Verdana, Geneva, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Verdana, Geneva, Helvetica, sans-serif]"Trying to make believers out of people who already believe". 😛
[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
 
I usually hear it at the end of a rant about something. So, the "preacher" knows the other party agrees, but just wanted to get something off of his chest and ends with "... but I know I'm just preaching to the choir."

I have also heard it from the other party listening to a rant and saying "I hear you; you're preaching to the choir, man." So, it may imply that the ranter doesn't realize the other person agrees (ignorance), but I've never heard something that expresses a belief in the ranter's stupidity.
 
palswim said:
I usually hear it at the end of a rant about something. So, the "preacher" knows the other party agrees, but just wanted to get something off of his chest and ends with "... but I know I'm just preaching to the choir."

I have also heard it from the other party listening to a rant and saying "I hear you; you're preaching to the choir, man." So, it may imply that the ranter doesn't realize the other person agrees (ignorance), but I've never heard something that expresses a belief in the ranter's stupidity.
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Exactly, that's usually how I hear it. Usually the party doing the preaching knows or has an idea that the party being preached to already knows/understands, but the one party still wants to vent anyway.

Like if you have a horrible boss, and he does something you don't like and you talk to a coworker about it. Does that make you "stupid" as some are suggesting because your coworker already knows how horrible your boss is? No.
 
princess ida said:
Original argument was about the proper way to dispose of garbage in this particular condo complex (pointless argument).

Argument about preaching to the choir - Party A argued that it meant that the choir already agreed with the preacher beforehand, Party B argued that it implied that the preacher was too stupid to recognize that the choir already had been convinced.
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Party B is reading too much into it. Party A is correct.
 
princess ida said:
Party B's implication of stupidity
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Stupidity may be too harsh a word, but it's not incorrect. Oblivious would be better, as in, "Do0d, don't be so oblivious to the situation here, you're preaching to the choir." As such, "stupid" could well be used as well.
 
spidey07 said:
It has NEVER meant that. So you think the choir thinks the preacher is stupid?

You're a moran.
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If the preacher turned around and tried to convert them, the already converted, by preaching to them, they sure as hell would think he's stupid.

spidey, you're in over your head here.
 
JulesMaximus said:
Party B is reading too much into it. Party A is correct.
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Party B is not necessarily reading too much into it, any and all examples to the contrary aside, unless you think "kicking at an open door" is intelligent! 😛

Party A is correct, but Party B is not necessarily wrong.

The idea has also been expressed in another phrase that refers to an unnecessary act, i.e. 'kicking at an open door'.



George Edward Bateman Saintsbury, in The Peace of Augustans, 1916, used both terms in one sentence:
"One may be said to be preaching to the converted and kicking at open doors in praising the four great novelists of the eighteenth century."
​
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spidey07 said:
Perknose said:
spidey07 said:
It has NEVER meant that. So you think the choir thinks the preacher is stupid?

You're a moran.
Click to expand...
If the preacher turned around and tried to convert them, the already converted, by preaching to them, they sure as hell would think he's stupid.

spidey, you're in over your head here.
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You're preaching to the choir moran.
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You just used the phrase entirely incorrectly, and are the only one to have done so in this entire thread, which makes you the MORAN OF ALL MORANS.
 
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princess ida said:
Original argument was about the proper way to dispose of garbage in this particular condo complex (pointless argument).

Argument about preaching to the choir - Party A argued that it meant that the choir already agreed with the preacher beforehand, Party B argued that it implied that the preacher was too stupid to recognize that the choir already had been convinced.
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Nothing in what Party B contends gainsays Party A's contention.

And nothing in Party A's interpretation obviates or excludes Party B's contention.

Hence, they are both morans, bringing the moran count here, including spidey, to 3. 😛 :biggrin:
 
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