why it's swine, why not pig?

兰颜知己

With this customer, he felt himself, as it were, casting pearls before swine. 面对这个客商，他感到好像是在对牛弹琴。

" A: y/ b1 o5 P' D/ l* aand from the above sentence, it even doesn't mean pig.

billzhao

swine    n.
2 O5 I1 O5 A- R/ O8 }3 L0 }# {1 : any of various stout-bodied short-legged omnivorous artiodactyl mammals (family Suidae) with a thick bristly skin and a long flexible snout especially : a domesticated one descended from the wild boar
2 : a contemptible person
swine fever  
; t! F7 t& Z1 M  ^* C4 ?5 G1 : HOG CHOLERA
2 : an acute highly contagious usually fatal disease of swine that is caused by a double-stranded DNA virus (species African swine fever virus of the genus Asfivirus, family Asfarviridae), that resembles but is more severe than hog cholera, and that is indigenous to Africa
© 2005 Merriam-Webster, Incorporated

% a6 g2 S  k4 l* Y, R8 x% }5 WThe reason to use swine may be that it is more formal a word than pig.

兰颜知己

got u, tks a lot.

Xbfeng

Swine Flu but not Pig Flu.

yuanyuan

pig, hog, swine 都含“猪”的意思。
pig 是常用词, 指“猪”、“小猪”、“猪肉”, 如: roast pig 烤猪肉。
hog 指“阉过供食用的公猪”, 尤指“重量超过一百二十磅的阉过的供食用的公猪”, 如: raise hogs 养猪。
/ s7 E3 j* `. V0 R  mswine 是文学用语, 指“猪”, 有时借喻“讨厌的人”, 如: You swine! 你这个猪猡!

' }( V! G7 |: ^) d9 g（转自金山词霸）

rainbowfish

Great! Thank you !

金币

原帖由 兰颜知己 于 2009-4-29 12:56 发表
With this customer, he felt himself, as it were, casting pearls before swine. 面对这个客商，他感到好像是在对牛弹琴。

, @# T0 _2 [2 ]: ~, _and from the above sentence, it even doesn't mean  ...

顺带说一句啊，要想说对牛谈琴的意思不要用这个casting pearls before swine，至少我知在加拿大他们一般不这么说。有时候这些词典真是害人。

billzhao

估计casting pearls before swine是个比较书面话的成语吧，大家都认识，但说话一般不那么说，否则被人说使用 big words.

billzhao

对牛弹琴  

to play the lute to a cow ：  offering a treat to a unappreciative audience

. g' N7 o% @& V$ x9 r0 ^to cast pearls before swine
- @" p8 g- q5 {$ \. A
9 J/ H# o1 B7 I) S. K% N( icaviar to the general

. c5 m% w+ R4 Sto preach to deaf ears

% V' j- _# V! W" p* Wto talk over sb's head
  F& q5 L& B1 o2 h$ Q6 A' I# B, U     

The whistle jigs to a milestone.
8 w2 D; M3 t* k% s2 j$ \" z
With this customer, he felt himself, as it were, casting pearls before swine.
面对这个客商，他感到好像是在对牛弹琴。
; Y0 _( t* W. B9 E" x
6 R9 r% [# _7 V- M# e( C5 o6 rShe read them Shakespeare, but it was casting pearls before swine.
# I/ [4 T% H# {8 I她为他们朗诵莎士比亚著作，但那等于对牛弹琴。

An nod is as good as a wink to a Blind horse
对牛弹琴

; q  w! H4 @$ S0 T* M
playing a harp before a Buffalo

play the lute to a cow; preach to deaf ears

3 u+ w4 z1 O1 J6 k- i
talk to a Brick wall
' `2 A6 n* N& [* Z+ d* w$ i对牛弹琴
# a( A7 O: J) W+ |
, U, l5 V/ B& |* y  A
Their hints about his behaviour were water off a duck's back.
他们示意他举止不当, 如同对牛弹琴.
  @: a7 O0 R& y' |
; q$ R" O/ s) X4 |' r; e' Q8 J[ 本帖最后由 billzhao 于 2009-4-30 10:49 编辑 ]

金币

原帖由 billzhao 于 2009-4-30 11:41 发表
9 V" w. C9 y% i( I' Q$ t8 ~估计casting pearls before swine是个比较书面话的成语吧，大家都认识，但说话一般不那么说，否则被人说使用 big words.

7 f1 Z+ Q* L% {6 ^( W
+ n+ F7 d+ |, O我找了个老外确认了一下，他们好像完全不知有这个说法。

billzhao

可能
可能这种说法太书面语了，也可能out of date了。
也有可能外国人不爱学习，学问高的不多。
还有可能是人们的知识水平参差不齐，你问的那几个人在正态分布的尾端。
不管怎么说，既然字典上有了，就是有这种说法，而且是相当的人知道这种说法，否则就不会遍到字典上去了