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。

) L7 A; _  M- _# Eand 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  
1 : HOG CHOLERA
6 [9 V6 h+ I; T' A) |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
© 2005 Merriam-Webster, Incorporated

  U  q* B1 `7 B7 s4 S! j- oThe 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。
: P. m5 l% n, e4 epig 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。
3 l6 {) t1 R/ q+ w; gswine 是文学用语, 指“猪”, 有时借喻“讨厌的人”, 如: You swine! 你这个猪猡!
7 ^4 T# f* w+ }* v/ d4 u
（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  ...

# x6 z' k6 `, B% ?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

% |( s4 U" y$ n6 Xto cast pearls before swine
$ l3 i+ Z  T* q+ S
: {+ e: O) z& ]$ Lcaviar to the general

2 Z9 ~- |0 U0 q, T3 n5 n' u0 s) |to preach to deaf ears
0 }% r+ j" e* ?+ v, W2 V6 |
to talk over sb's head
     

The whistle jigs to a milestone.
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7 s3 M# a# }+ t, M) Z- ^With this customer, he felt himself, as it were, casting pearls before swine.
, l3 ?8 o  q  ^! v7 B8 O/ v面对这个客商，他感到好像是在对牛弹琴。
" A7 t( L( |' T8 j- z$ |" L& [
3 {% f; _" I% E$ b" nShe read them Shakespeare, but it was casting pearls before swine.
她为他们朗诵莎士比亚著作，但那等于对牛弹琴。

1 C. ]* D9 F- p. Y+ \4 sAn nod is as good as a wink to a Blind horse
9 P$ g5 G: _3 O& }对牛弹琴


4 C2 G7 {- V6 j% z3 j% }/ g playing a harp before a Buffalo
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4 s2 L7 |9 X) R# qplay the lute to a cow; preach to deaf ears
, G; X/ M8 [' H6 A5 _9 s* \' [

  d0 D1 E: d4 |0 [' @talk to a Brick wall
2 D4 G) U# J. y对牛弹琴

) j8 e; T' A0 w
, @7 n9 Z5 ]# Q8 j8 JTheir hints about his behaviour were water off a duck's back.
, @0 l% o& E2 j! J+ o; @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
) q( j1 b8 A7 e* F9 A5 u9 K* P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
, }& o) J9 l! K( h2 j9 G9 l' l! p可能这种说法太书面语了，也可能out of date了。
9 `. n0 Q; `+ t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