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。

2 f$ \2 U+ A# fand 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
% V+ O& T# r  L' o3 J/ P 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
3 t% \2 \) x% Y% q! |' B- y© 2005 Merriam-Webster, Incorporated

6 N2 j: g4 \4 \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。
' U% Y' B' M' ?3 Xpig 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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# ~  ^9 G, a' d% E（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
" A2 W+ w. ^' v4 J) X  b- O- c4 \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。

7 t3 F5 X7 Q: ~9 `and from the above sentence, it even doesn't mean  ...

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4 J; [3 Z! X9 S/ J& W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$ ]5 a# y4 X7 l' z
to play the lute to a cow ：  offering a treat to a unappreciative audience

/ ]& H% h! T$ M2 b" P7 Gto cast pearls before swine

caviar to the general
4 u2 N9 V8 }: W2 e0 e
to preach to deaf ears
$ u) ~  G. X) |8 Y& S. N! H
9 q5 V) h7 y! M8 P7 mto talk over sb's head
& Y, c, L7 K4 z3 ^( F5 @     
5 X+ A8 ~0 O( l4 ]$ \
The whistle jigs to a milestone.

. c: R4 J* L4 cWith this customer, he felt himself, as it were, casting pearls before swine.
. W! x. }& ~8 q- S5 w) z9 b面对这个客商，他感到好像是在对牛弹琴。
% B7 P+ K% G) B  M6 l$ |6 S/ h: B
She read them Shakespeare, but it was casting pearls before swine.
' s) L" F+ X  N% U, ?5 q* ?她为他们朗诵莎士比亚著作，但那等于对牛弹琴。

3 D- d, }2 b' C' x5 Z$ e* O1 _) JAn nod is as good as a wink to a Blind horse
4 Z5 c4 r6 s1 R% p/ J* h对牛弹琴

. u5 `, V- e( Z6 ]) ~7 d. F
playing a harp before a Buffalo
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play the lute to a cow; preach to deaf ears
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2 }7 V) f) [8 V  }# ktalk to a Brick wall
' Y( z1 S2 i, \6 e  @4 D% V对牛弹琴

# `: F# N( D9 Q' D/ a+ g; s
+ b. P6 h6 A' u# n( ?4 JTheir hints about his behaviour were water off a duck's back.
# g) A$ w- K. T8 S9 r他们示意他举止不当, 如同对牛弹琴.
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+ C! F, U2 ?5 A1 m6 A, U4 O+ 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
1 i# C7 `. P. g3 u& A4 r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.

  _& F# b; D. c; m4 S/ M% S' D& p
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。
- N$ r2 e* m7 p" m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