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.
; I$ n) a8 z; V  w+ _# t1 n/ `; o1 : 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
6 x+ S. E8 C  Z2 : a contemptible person
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
& W% C/ i! c) F7 e© 2005 Merriam-Webster, Incorporated

. ?% C5 `1 }0 YThe 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。
0 h- [" X7 }% Vhog 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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* B/ f, ~7 P( n9 h1 C（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。

and 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  

to play the lute to a cow ：  offering a treat to a unappreciative audience
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- P5 Q6 O$ b4 N- I( V6 N. Uto cast pearls before swine

+ e( A2 p& K' n* _3 p) r* V; y; ?& hcaviar to the general

. V6 e# F5 m! C! c/ |8 a, vto preach to deaf ears
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to talk over sb's head
- h* k! Y) A( `% U     

The whistle jigs to a milestone.
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* A3 B$ f. X8 v( gWith 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。

+ @; \; T3 |& E+ R! j% TShe read them Shakespeare, but it was casting pearls before swine.
( t6 b: `8 l# r1 _0 S$ O8 p+ 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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An nod is as good as a wink to a Blind horse
) P3 p7 I2 \* _* z对牛弹琴
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. `4 o8 a% D1 i' _* x" G2 w5 A
+ Z9 o5 B1 s" H. E playing a harp before a Buffalo
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7 \, h3 b2 u. ^& f# [- c3 e; `+ H8 pplay the lute to a cow; preach to deaf ears
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( D& D  M% K& Z' Q4 A( Ltalk to a Brick wall
# {; q6 \% C! @- ]$ S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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% J/ b9 n/ N6 q+ Z5 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
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.

. q, ]9 Q5 u0 L1 o# S0 F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
! F. f+ F5 c0 z0 z7 r  R* o可能这种说法太书面语了，也可能out of date了。
" e: ~  l' \6 {, _+ ]% t9 s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