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。
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$ E3 c7 a! ^" E6 ^) d& j: {and from the above sentence, it even doesn't mean pig.

billzhao

swine    n.
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 e. s1 E$ R+ G5 X) t# q) R: I4 I2 : a contemptible person
swine fever  
% D; K& E  b/ \# ?& S, H2 x* I1 : HOG CHOLERA
% W* J" S$ \) U1 ]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

The 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。
  V* K( |8 u( x8 jpig 是常用词, 指“猪”、“小猪”、“猪肉”, 如: roast pig 烤猪肉。
- g, O7 N- U; D* o" B' x' X7 [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。
swine 是文学用语, 指“猪”, 有时借喻“讨厌的人”, 如: You swine! 你这个猪猡!
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# n; ~! Y. h" Z4 l（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。

- ]; [3 Q3 U$ B7 J0 ?4 E4 w0 S+ nand 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  
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to play the lute to a cow ：  offering a treat to a unappreciative audience

to cast pearls before swine
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caviar to the general

to preach to deaf ears

+ S% U2 n1 o) gto talk over sb's head
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$ N& [- K8 y7 K' }8 ]The whistle jigs to a milestone.
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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。

% I$ v: t  ^. l0 E/ e4 F6 K; QShe read them Shakespeare, but it was casting pearls before swine.
  ~* O; _( I2 D. c. ^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

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% m4 t4 G; d! N! D; j8 H playing a harp before a Buffalo

play the lute to a cow; preach to deaf ears


talk to a Brick wall
对牛弹琴
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: V) P: A! k5 ?" Z8 ?( U+ c2 pTheir 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.
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8 P  a- l4 @- {[ 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
  L. |" F3 H/ H% j1 \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.

0 ~. U* E* }/ r' t5 ~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