Learn English – To convince someone to do something that they do anyways (idiom)

idiom-requestsidiomspopular-refrains

In my native language we have an ironic saying: "It is hard to convince a fish to jump into water", which is used when we convince for example an alcoholic to take a drink or an athlete to go jogging. The act itself doesn't have to be easy for the individual, only natural or expected.

Is there a similar saying in English?

Best Answer

Preaching to the choir means trying to persuade an already convinced audience. The idiom is based on the idea of a pastor of a church delivering his sermon to the people in the choir, who are presumably already believers. Generally it's used to mean "you don't have to convince me," as in "Hey buddy, you're preaching to the choir here, I'm already voting Democratic this year" (or whatever).

(idiomatic) Speaking as if to convince a person or group of something which that person or group already believes. Often used to imply that a speaker is addressing the wrong audience or is deliberately addressing a compliant, non-challenging audience.

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/preach_to_the_choir

Related Topic