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 ]& G5 |- S0 p2 Z. X& [, w1 : 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
( n, q8 w% o3 q: S2 T2 : a contemptible person
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。
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。
+ o1 N3 ?, e) ~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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（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  

& _3 j$ g3 _; \+ S( Z2 |9 q2 Rto play the lute to a cow ：  offering a treat to a unappreciative audience
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$ }1 o$ I9 c# Q, yto cast pearls before swine
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caviar to the general
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to preach to deaf ears

to talk over sb's head
     
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# w7 c% D. E" n' U$ A- dThe whistle jigs to a milestone.
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9 i% n$ i* L8 O0 H" QWith 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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2 a) n" f: m3 b5 hShe read them Shakespeare, but it was casting pearls before swine.
她为他们朗诵莎士比亚著作，但那等于对牛弹琴。
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An nod is as good as a wink to a Blind horse
对牛弹琴
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9 Q" G) p: [; G6 Z) ] playing a harp before a Buffalo

play the lute to a cow; preach to deaf ears


- L. T) N  P  y& @. \2 x1 y3 Utalk to a Brick wall
  l& Y( T* [1 z对牛弹琴


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.

9 Y) B: r2 Q5 N8 j) H1 \/ K3 o0 W[ 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
$ H. S4 `# f" N$ D" S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
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也有可能外国人不爱学习，学问高的不多。
9 I6 `* k3 L* h" O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。
# j2 L! |: U' _. l0 g; f- e5 h" c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