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.
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
swine fever  
+ L! T4 d) f2 O. |1 : HOG CHOLERA
4 w( |6 Z& L1 z2 : 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
5 x/ b& ]5 T% v+ W© 2005 Merriam-Webster, Incorporated
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: g& b5 z! N6 k; lThe 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。
- e5 [8 m/ S! \pig 是常用词, 指“猪”、“小猪”、“猪肉”, 如: roast pig 烤猪肉。
2 @9 o$ f& D9 @3 Zhog 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!

（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
; w- k7 \* _: Y$ t; u! ZWith 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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8 d* a; Z6 o) ?to cast pearls before swine
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caviar to the general
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& `1 k$ y" d  X4 G, eto preach to deaf ears
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to talk over sb's head
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) K- Q9 r2 y. C8 B, K  c( F+ K9 OThe whistle jigs to a milestone.

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。

0 s" |; C& m$ R# fShe read them Shakespeare, but it was casting pearls before swine.
3 L& f. M& K2 _$ I: V她为他们朗诵莎士比亚著作，但那等于对牛弹琴。

2 E5 F& b9 r+ w: S& u" h3 W9 WAn nod is as good as a wink to a Blind horse
& u; t; k, J, j6 \9 B对牛弹琴
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. }  g% K9 ^: O; k. D* r0 h playing a harp before a Buffalo

2 @' Z: F! ]2 o% O- V5 T: D9 Fplay the lute to a cow; preach to deaf ears
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talk to a Brick wall
# `, Z; b1 X8 {* g5 Y7 ~对牛弹琴

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/ V. t9 @" _$ Q. h1 UTheir 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.

[ 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
8 e) z  i, a% R7 k3 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.

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。
2 T$ Q' U, \) Y也有可能外国人不爱学习，学问高的不多。
  j% g& E! Z! S( J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。
% W* W7 s9 S/ |8 r( A& y. K# C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