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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and from the above sentence, it even doesn't mean pig.

billzhao

swine    n.
, p% A# Q& n  u) O4 ]/ N5 Y1 : 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
: r* I4 ~9 n. t2 : a contemptible person
: q8 }2 }' e1 n, w% Z. H) s0 R swine fever  
! X) w/ l* [5 s$ [& t1 : 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

6 M2 w( z8 c  I; s0 cThe 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。
7 c+ B$ q# d3 q: Hpig 是常用词, 指“猪”、“小猪”、“猪肉”, 如: roast pig 烤猪肉。
$ ]- A4 K! }) Q/ {% N! Yhog 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。
5 c6 k$ y/ L/ K% j3 g; \- Wswine 是文学用语, 指“猪”, 有时借喻“讨厌的人”, 如: You swine! 你这个猪猡!

（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。

6 Q7 }. M& X) E* s( wand from the above sentence, it even doesn't mean  ...

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* S0 s2 z! e/ V: r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
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to cast pearls before swine
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caviar to the general

to preach to deaf ears

to talk over sb's head
     
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  a& p" O5 N/ u$ VThe whistle jigs to a milestone.

+ S" r* ~: M" W8 g/ L( b- {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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( F% Y, r$ ], oShe read them Shakespeare, but it was casting pearls before swine.
& v4 W7 k3 e' v0 F& n她为他们朗诵莎士比亚著作，但那等于对牛弹琴。
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! X- n6 w' a8 Z, _An nod is as good as a wink to a Blind horse
对牛弹琴
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) s' V# m& C3 U6 T1 p( n playing a harp before a Buffalo

+ I: N% @% {8 b3 N, B; eplay the lute to a cow; preach to deaf ears
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talk to a Brick wall
对牛弹琴


' `# V" O6 |( {Their hints about his behaviour were water off a duck's back.
2 J$ u3 r3 _  I! s: f他们示意他举止不当, 如同对牛弹琴.
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[ 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
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.

8 U( X. h+ r% |2 f% S
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