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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/ H. V" y1 `8 land from the above sentence, it even doesn't mean pig.

billzhao

swine    n.
' v1 L4 U9 Y/ r+ y$ n9 z1 : 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
1 _, J& n+ e/ t6 v" z* t- d7 W swine fever  
% _& ~0 v$ x1 ?2 F8 c* I+ C1 : 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
  N; B( @8 I% `6 ]) c© 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。
0 H& d+ v& ~* l; A( epig 是常用词, 指“猪”、“小猪”、“猪肉”, 如: roast pig 烤猪肉。
# \+ N  r( Y" ^2 R& z0 lhog 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。
: }; C3 p: J- b1 L4 Eswine 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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+ Q: B. f/ k% m: L! P3 E4 c% ~! f9 _（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  ...

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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7 K+ e. h9 u, M/ H. K2 e2 z' wto play the lute to a cow ：  offering a treat to a unappreciative audience
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3 d2 D# j) E  Q: x6 _3 Qto cast pearls before swine
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caviar to the general
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" r  ?% n) M( P% N9 ]% ?) M6 @  cto preach to deaf ears
1 L% N& R  T2 o8 o
( A$ Y: N4 i/ M9 H$ j- Hto talk over sb's head
2 I! d% k% S/ \7 {3 P     

The whistle jigs to a milestone.
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  e8 B$ b2 s5 {% [' Q9 g% s2 jWith this customer, he felt himself, as it were, casting pearls before swine.
4 H: _# D6 W# u) O3 u9 u/ y面对这个客商，他感到好像是在对牛弹琴。

She read them Shakespeare, but it was casting pearls before swine.
5 u, u- W* B0 `; H她为他们朗诵莎士比亚著作，但那等于对牛弹琴。

5 P' ~, q  n0 o& dAn nod is as good as a wink to a Blind horse
对牛弹琴
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6 G0 B. _: k0 D6 e* I. V; U
( [1 r$ O; L  L# k) [$ O# K# E5 f+ X playing a harp before a Buffalo
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! N* a3 f  C6 v4 q" Oplay the lute to a cow; preach to deaf ears
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* ?* v0 S# o2 X' b% x, x7 Y) qtalk to a Brick wall
对牛弹琴
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Their hints about his behaviour were water off a duck's back.
  A- j( k( c) C8 O9 Y" ~  c" x& R他们示意他举止不当, 如同对牛弹琴.
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0 ]4 W. p6 J& T4 o0 a[ 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
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.

8 {" m+ q* Y( Y! g/ B& U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。
/ [# X0 S0 i, S# R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