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。

( a. P. n3 |) _& }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
5 r  L9 i+ D0 h; U( L5 [* b: v0 I swine fever  
7 ~# [% |4 i) b( y* k0 x# Q1 : HOG CHOLERA
8 D' e+ ~* Y& v# x2 : 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
' A$ Y  s8 O- `) d5 f© 2005 Merriam-Webster, Incorporated
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1 H: |& K. j+ i0 R* vThe 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。
6 f" m8 R' Y6 @; e) d7 z  Bswine 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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6 ^3 {: ]2 ~! ]（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  ...

& i, x7 `$ Z! y& ]- k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
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7 T! s2 F9 P2 Q3 ~8 {. v9 h$ q5 Jto cast pearls before swine
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caviar to the general

to preach to deaf ears
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$ I* `: v2 a: P* V& u& gto talk over sb's head
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3 e1 f3 s5 y; p6 B( x  j
! Y/ ~7 p4 u9 _( l6 {4 y6 ]- pThe 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。
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1 X* Q3 D7 o! Y% d) jShe read them Shakespeare, but it was casting pearls before swine.
6 h3 ^8 C( t( z, t; Z她为他们朗诵莎士比亚著作，但那等于对牛弹琴。
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) k* A& o6 f8 P% b2 m, kAn nod is as good as a wink to a Blind horse
9 K) C) K: x, v$ W对牛弹琴

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7 ]) a3 @& I6 w) i8 r( ?9 L+ l# v playing a harp before a Buffalo
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1 w) g9 Z' g. U# t% ?play the lute to a cow; preach to deaf ears

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4 t, y( [7 W$ Z4 Ftalk to a Brick wall
对牛弹琴


( _, G6 n4 M! k9 Y# d4 c' eTheir 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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, n1 ?, H, }6 x, @[ 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
. @" N* F; g: g( p* N* ^5 y$ j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。
. t9 E) G8 C/ Z2 |# u# L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