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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! ^# n7 t$ |1 o& Jand 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  
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

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。
  d9 M3 S4 J' T0 `) Mpig 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。
% m! a' ~* [# c# wswine 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
! Q' e4 E+ X9 |4 t+ Z: z+ d. d5 w1 WWith 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。

and from the above sentence, it even doesn't mean  ...

' c7 `: N: k' v% q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  

$ b$ W; G3 W  H+ s% u4 gto play the lute to a cow ：  offering a treat to a unappreciative audience
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to cast pearls before swine

1 g; c* P5 S+ g; M8 ?4 xcaviar to the general

1 U4 b1 S( B/ c* O3 Z$ E6 `% y* ~8 Cto preach to deaf ears
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( R; S0 f7 [) `7 l0 Bto talk over sb's head
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! t: l) O2 U" [/ b5 O) L1 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。

$ w5 a" m) U/ l2 lShe read them Shakespeare, but it was casting pearls before swine.
- Q/ C8 v# G% F她为他们朗诵莎士比亚著作，但那等于对牛弹琴。
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5 K- j4 r! Z& U& w7 AAn nod is as good as a wink to a Blind horse
对牛弹琴


playing a harp before a Buffalo

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.

[ 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
9 J( m: [! r  f7 n: ^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.

0 z, ]% Q( L# e- c$ {; k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。
9 U) M. h# r3 X1 u也有可能外国人不爱学习，学问高的不多。
, k$ S* ?, |  V7 |- X) y& k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