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
3 s6 U# ?1 G3 T/ ]1 j2 : a contemptible person
swine fever  
9 C# F, y. c6 Z, p7 I$ q( _1 : HOG CHOLERA
) [9 w% g+ O. f  D2 : 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
8 C' ?  {2 ^$ R) l, Q/ ~© 2005 Merriam-Webster, Incorporated

8 Q7 v" R" n' T& j+ T: |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。
" }! m/ }( r, }' I5 t7 Rpig 是常用词, 指“猪”、“小猪”、“猪肉”, 如: roast pig 烤猪肉。
) K; [$ _8 `3 E/ E  U9 b$ [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。
( d, G: y4 F: o8 G% N4 }; `" sswine 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
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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) _) ?8 ]+ M2 s8 k/ y8 k% K, aand from the above sentence, it even doesn't mean  ...

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! Q6 d  f  m1 ^6 g! m+ I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  

6 X7 S; R7 P  P. ito play the lute to a cow ：  offering a treat to a unappreciative audience

to cast pearls before swine

caviar to the general
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to preach to deaf ears
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2 o1 g7 ~: Q1 h$ t% j5 K, lto talk over sb's head
     
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The whistle jigs to a milestone.
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6 W& N; A8 f% NWith 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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/ C/ I  H$ C- D1 y' JShe read them Shakespeare, but it was casting pearls before swine.
- N2 _7 t9 l( l; s, F3 F- `2 x她为他们朗诵莎士比亚著作，但那等于对牛弹琴。
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* ~- L9 ~  v/ NAn nod is as good as a wink to a Blind horse
) O$ {" s: O& r8 W7 U对牛弹琴

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playing a harp before a Buffalo
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$ L6 T5 S" N9 w1 C+ r. \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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9 m8 d( L. I5 F) |% P
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.

( W. t: d2 n3 |+ J: z0 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
* j5 W7 [! S5 ~5 A) o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.

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, @( c, X  G' S. [" I# @* m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
% S/ [" Q$ [- r1 [可能这种说法太书面语了，也可能out of date了。
7 j7 S. j  D5 J. ~$ X3 f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。
7 `! P4 r+ t. ]+ Q! D) k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