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
4 {! m7 W8 o( x, Q- q) o5 v2 : a contemptible person
7 w9 h) [% T5 u# m swine fever  
! x; {! |6 I0 h6 a. |8 G# _' w1 : 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

+ C0 H1 @" Y& o; h5 cThe 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。
0 ~: U4 m& n6 r# s- _, wpig 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!
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8 E. r5 C0 m7 j$ ?- J* Q" D, X$ w3 q（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
: I0 C# T! U+ n  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。
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and 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  

! g, v' c& Z5 }- Z+ M# Wto play the lute to a cow ：  offering a treat to a unappreciative audience

to cast pearls before swine
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caviar to the general
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* ~. {- i$ n9 v# w% k1 q+ hto preach to deaf ears
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( z- g; R+ x  V6 k( ?0 W7 \4 i1 u* Kto talk over sb's head
     
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The whistle jigs to a milestone.
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% R1 D. C4 F' y6 ]4 [1 JWith 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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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。
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An nod is as good as a wink to a Blind horse
对牛弹琴


% x0 |  A3 f: J. }' P  R playing a harp before a Buffalo
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' J8 Y! o( @; zplay the lute to a cow; preach to deaf ears


4 Y: ^* S3 O# I) ytalk to a Brick wall
/ G" g* i0 i) S2 t! N: R3 {" S) i对牛弹琴


9 G9 P  ~% U: N3 h! aTheir 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.

. D* J( |' |) A3 f, f# z7 P[ 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
% p) u7 w, g0 o7 U+ X- b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.

# }, o% V6 L; ]9 s+ I: k2 `- P
% x4 z; w3 Z4 [+ o7 d2 L* 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
! C% B: h, q3 h: @3 Z; J. X可能这种说法太书面语了，也可能out of date了。
# }1 ~$ d+ X3 f, w4 g  R也有可能外国人不爱学习，学问高的不多。
' `0 e3 M% K+ n$ g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。
/ |  S( I& _+ o1 e3 u  B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