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
9 U3 w; a) b- J+ u  P2 : a contemptible person
swine fever  
; A0 A! m1 R. R6 V8 f' e1 : HOG CHOLERA
. h3 _% W% w( ^! ^! c) D9 E2 : 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
$ W9 X/ b- D7 W© 2005 Merriam-Webster, Incorporated
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% z+ `( m% @2 f+ \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。
; a# H# r. b8 G  F1 cpig 是常用词, 指“猪”、“小猪”、“猪肉”, 如: roast pig 烤猪肉。
7 A) i" J' k, C  e) V) l5 `$ Chog 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。
) j' z! ]1 q1 w0 s9 ~* p# N  Cswine 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
0 U( G, N& o6 n+ GWith 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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" p4 ^  ^/ B- Z' i. T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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  d  s9 q" ^6 R6 J& Cto play the lute to a cow ：  offering a treat to a unappreciative audience

! Q! k& [  L% D  kto cast pearls before swine
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7 M1 ?. a; s5 ocaviar to the general
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to preach to deaf ears
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to talk over sb's head
     
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The whistle jigs to a milestone.

# a; o1 s! u' K$ G- ]* OWith this customer, he felt himself, as it were, casting pearls before swine.
7 e! B0 l; s0 U9 A$ J) [面对这个客商，他感到好像是在对牛弹琴。

  v. l4 F  R* P: g; ~% M; w& ^She read them Shakespeare, but it was casting pearls before swine.
. C; a7 }; W: h9 w( i% G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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% \, J! P; e" D2 o3 h2 e$ `/ u6 | 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.
他们示意他举止不当, 如同对牛弹琴.
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4 }* x+ ]: s0 f* y( Q0 v[ 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
7 U* M4 Z) B1 D/ l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
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