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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# _, W7 ]. m0 W8 Tand 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
8 v- `2 i3 e2 T swine fever  
% W2 ^8 k* I( f. {& g9 b1 : 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
, E5 O: A( I: s3 B2 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。
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。
9 |% p2 ]  z6 a7 |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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（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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# X8 }( {6 K9 r. [8 l5 M" ?  Sand from the above sentence, it even doesn't mean  ...

8 q+ ~; p' W) \+ p. [3 q; ~8 B' Q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

to cast pearls before swine
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caviar to the general
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: j4 L- g3 w6 r: o. Ato preach to deaf ears

to talk over sb's head
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7 [) g! r. K3 V1 T: h
The whistle jigs to a milestone.

With this customer, he felt himself, as it were, casting pearls before swine.
( g% B1 o' Z+ n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.
! f" R3 V: W3 ~她为他们朗诵莎士比亚著作，但那等于对牛弹琴。
7 h# R; a# E& B, ?4 \& q' y
) F. [! {: K/ r$ M1 M  DAn nod is as good as a wink to a Blind horse
对牛弹琴
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2 `/ L; p: ^6 R& R1 O- G# v playing a harp before a Buffalo

5 \7 P) y3 F8 F, u; a' C$ Tplay the lute to a cow; preach to deaf ears


talk to a Brick wall
# e8 N0 f* n4 a% u: x对牛弹琴
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4 ~' G+ O2 `! [# G' @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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[ 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.

7 E) s* ^) \% O- x# E: v3 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。
也有可能外国人不爱学习，学问高的不多。
6 a5 o% ?6 e: E) n: U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