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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; |1 F3 m5 Y" h. J8 Rand from the above sentence, it even doesn't mean pig.

billzhao

swine    n.
5 y6 p7 {! J; T4 H( M1 : 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
. H. v) D% P1 b% p8 _+ I$ l( D" I# @2 : a contemptible person
swine fever  
& a4 L/ D6 E( L7 J! {- n1 : HOG CHOLERA
$ \9 _0 m  D* p. ]8 q" _6 c; L& y2 : 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
0 V) T4 @' b( M  U© 2005 Merriam-Webster, Incorporated
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! Y! {5 ?1 Q  C) t2 l. n; p9 TThe 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。
: g$ R# y- L% p9 o9 h8 T" r. z, ^0 G) nswine 是文学用语, 指“猪”, 有时借喻“讨厌的人”, 如: You swine! 你这个猪猡!

+ E% d8 f1 G4 B1 L& u（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
; [# n+ e  W3 J1 B5 }# f: AWith 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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4 d8 ]$ s% \; o# Z& P, m' qand from the above sentence, it even doesn't mean  ...

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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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to cast pearls before swine
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caviar to the general

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.
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With this customer, he felt himself, as it were, casting pearls before swine.
* A, c2 q  y1 L) f9 |2 j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.
2 N6 _0 [- L1 \0 J她为他们朗诵莎士比亚著作，但那等于对牛弹琴。
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4 G/ P: T6 [6 \- NAn nod is as good as a wink to a Blind horse
对牛弹琴

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* k6 y8 Y2 Q# h5 q playing a harp before a Buffalo

play the lute to a cow; preach to deaf ears
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: g: t' z: P( W3 Italk 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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+ j6 i7 C0 H; s( ^* B; m$ n[ 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
, P5 ?) B; v( k' Y1 c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.

1 y$ N+ n4 ^* @5 V* N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。
4 e5 }% i: m# Y; P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