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VinnyB Posted 19 years ago
Vocabulary
Preaching (versus Singing) to the Choir
0 I've heard both "preaching to the choir" and "singing to the choir" used to mean that something is unnecessary. That doesn't make a lot of sense with the former, though. Why would preaching to the choir- 01 del 00 or to anyone at church, for that matter 02 del 00 -be useless? 02 br
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00 "Preaching to the converted" is similar, but seems to implies knock-on-door-preaching (whereas "choir" suggests pulpit-preaching). I've also never heard anyone say it ... (archaeic?) 02 br
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00 In some limited googling, I found: 02 br
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00 On fine spring Sunday mornings, attendence at church has been known to be very sparse. 02 br
00 Whatever the rest of the faithful are doing, the preacher and the choir have a reason to attend. In fact, the choir may be the preacher's only audience. 02 br
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00 This suggests an entirely different meaning, but sounds the most logical to me. 02 br
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00 Anyway, can someone provide more information? What's the meaning behind these? 0-
02 br
00 "Preaching to the converted" is similar, but seems to implies knock-on-door-preaching (whereas "choir" suggests pulpit-preaching). I've also never heard anyone say it ... (archaeic?) 02 br
02 br
00 In some limited googling, I found: 02 br
02 br
00 On fine spring Sunday mornings, attendence at church has been known to be very sparse. 02 br
00 Whatever the rest of the faithful are doing, the preacher and the choir have a reason to attend. In fact, the choir may be the preacher's only audience. 02 br
02 br
00 This suggests an entirely different meaning, but sounds the most logical to me. 02 br
02 br
00 Anyway, can someone provide more information? What's the meaning behind these? 0-
Top answer
02 br 02 br 00 I've never heard 01 i 00 singing to the choir 02 i 00 , but I'm sure it means the same thing as 01 i 00 preaching to the choir 02 i 00 . The saying assumes that the choir are in total agreement with what the preacher has to say. So the preacher really doesn't have to work very hard to make them believe what he has to say.
- 02 br 02 br 00 I've never heard 01 i 00 singing to the choir 02 i 00 , but I'm sure it means the same thing as 01 i 00 preaching to the choir 02 i 00 .
- The saying assumes that the choir are in total agreement with what the preacher has to say.
- So the preacher really doesn't have to work very hard to make them believe what he has to say.
- They already believe it.
- So preaching to the choir means urging someone to believe what you say when they already do believe it.
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8 Answers
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0 Welcome to English Forums! 02 br
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00 I've never heard 01 i 00 singing to the choir 02 i 00 , but I'm sure it means the same thing as 01 i 00 preaching to the choir 02 i 00 . The saying assumes that the choir are in total agreement with what the preacher has to say. So the preacher really doesn't have to work very hard to make them bel
02 br
00 I've never heard 01 i 00 singing to the choir 02 i 00 , but I'm sure it means the same thing as 01 i 00 preaching to the choir 02 i 00 . The saying assumes that the choir are in total agreement with what the preacher has to say. So the preacher really doesn't have to work very hard to make them bel
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0 My first thought on what "singing to the choir" 01 i 00 could 02 i 00 mean -- trying to do something in front of someone who can do it a lot better. 02 br
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00 (But then my singing is always out of tune. 05 0 00 ) 010id 10
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00 (But then my singing is always out of tune. 05 0 00 ) 010id 10
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01 cite 10 Julielai 12 cite 10 My first thought on what "singing to the choir" 11 i 10 could 12 i 10 mean -- 10 trying to do something in front of someone who can do it a lot better 10 . 12 br10
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10 (But then my singing is always out of tune. 15 0 10 ) 12 br
12 blockquote
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Common sense people.
Preaching to a group of people who don't need preaching to (the choir).
Don't read into it so much.
Preaching to a group of people who don't need preaching to (the choir).
Don't read into it so much.
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AnonymousCommon sense people.
Preaching to a group of people who don't need preaching to (the choir).
Don't read into it so much.
Don't read so much into it.
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I have always heard it said "singing to the choir". It means basically that when you are trying to explain something to someone...if that person has the same feelings about your topic.. then it is like a choir member singing to another choir member. I had never heard "preaching to the choir" until recently.
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It's just one of those accidental drifts of language. I think they call it a malaphor.
It's a mashup of the two original phrases: singing to the choir and preaching to the converted, which both mean the same thing. At some point people just mixed up the starts and it kind of stuck around!
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