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.
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  
/ }$ n) u  ?6 u! k- Y1 : HOG CHOLERA
: I9 g3 ]0 {  F- e/ ?% A2 : 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
( W! \) E9 }5 i" A7 }8 K© 2005 Merriam-Webster, Incorporated
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- Y! Y0 A& i& a1 I& x6 O9 V4 T6 |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。
swine 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
- ]5 _. J3 q. V0 r# ?) sWith 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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5 _2 J5 y0 b# @, uand 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

caviar to the general
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to preach to deaf ears

, {) E% J. f$ t0 ~to talk over sb's head
     

: s" C: E% y- CThe whistle jigs to a milestone.

With this customer, he felt himself, as it were, casting pearls before swine.
0 |( F5 p$ Y; h0 u4 s面对这个客商，他感到好像是在对牛弹琴。
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She 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。

5 W8 \% @: A; B4 N' O8 i, gAn nod is as good as a wink to a Blind horse
对牛弹琴

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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
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Their hints about his behaviour were water off a duck's back.
6 V5 W6 h3 n0 [4 x0 r, q1 k5 ]他们示意他举止不当, 如同对牛弹琴.

/ q! z- e. i1 j! ?& Q7 W' 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
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
* {& W3 Q9 ~& _* U$ o9 |4 l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。
2 E5 @: y9 ?5 A( y, p0 r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