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.
4 ~/ h+ u  O& d1 : 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
  b# E3 w% U8 d+ ^! `2 X, g. I/ w4 S2 : a contemptible person
) b  M* \1 D- T9 ^1 x6 \ swine fever  
1 : 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
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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。
5 v/ t! L9 H3 w! s' wpig 是常用词, 指“猪”、“小猪”、“猪肉”, 如: roast pig 烤猪肉。
+ `0 T" I' U5 L  }& J* w0 ?: Ohog 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。
9 d2 t" T; l5 Jswine 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。
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and from the above sentence, it even doesn't mean  ...

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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

- }- D2 F# l3 O) v3 D* Fto cast pearls before swine
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caviar to the general

to preach to deaf ears
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$ w' P5 t- x& H, v4 V3 f# h9 Gto talk over sb's head
6 R# A# w/ r* d* Y0 a% j, c6 M     
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The whistle jigs to a milestone.
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3 N2 O. ~: ^4 A/ n- yWith this customer, he felt himself, as it were, casting pearls before swine.
5 E# t! l5 \) y2 L5 a; t1 ?* T1 `面对这个客商，他感到好像是在对牛弹琴。
7 c6 X$ |- m* J4 g' N
3 `5 r( g" j' k. x3 dShe read them Shakespeare, but it was casting pearls before swine.
, U( R( D+ M) ]& e- h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! _+ f- L7 F8 v0 W( s! c# KAn nod is as good as a wink to a Blind horse
对牛弹琴


3 z8 q( [! [' u- s2 y+ r  q/ c playing a harp before a Buffalo
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play the lute to a cow; preach to deaf ears

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talk to a Brick wall
对牛弹琴


1 Q5 Y2 O! P& k% ~$ z" C! V, s* YTheir hints about his behaviour were water off a duck's back.
6 _" o1 ]* F, T" d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
8 T6 p9 L3 E9 [7 ~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.

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
! K8 H: U! N$ j$ C- y8 n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