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  
. u: }, @0 z* D. f1 : 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
% C7 F- y) F6 Z' n3 \4 c© 2005 Merriam-Webster, Incorporated
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! D6 x9 @  C9 `2 P& P: v+ H. w/ QThe 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。
) P9 o/ Q$ Q9 [) t2 pswine 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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7 |. p! Y" h" D5 a  d1 m- iand from the above sentence, it even doesn't mean  ...

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  x8 Z0 w  O4 r* h2 s4 i" q5 l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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0 k, D" Z4 V6 M% \to play the lute to a cow ：  offering a treat to a unappreciative audience
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+ F# u# |8 Q5 mto cast pearls before swine
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6 _& e: k$ L0 Dcaviar to the general

$ v' Q+ W) m+ s' cto preach to deaf ears
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2 z1 C( J+ y. r9 z* ^8 ?  {to talk over sb's head
     

! G9 B. E. R- U4 BThe 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。

, z0 r" w, A) {# p4 o4 CShe 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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: b- {- l, p+ t( l) k: QAn 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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$ D8 ~+ ]3 _, K) W. O2 _talk to a Brick wall
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.

: }5 p$ _. a5 Q1 r- L! Y$ L[ 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.

, T  W8 ~; E5 u* z3 Q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
9 d6 R, T! N+ i: h8 Z% w可能这种说法太书面语了，也可能out of date了。
4 h# }2 U% d) m  P7 z. b: ]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