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
0 R% o8 _3 A0 [+ ?2 : a contemptible person
swine fever  
3 h* X! K7 p7 P; s% d6 }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
© 2005 Merriam-Webster, Incorporated

. L, d) R- \" w% |5 s9 C; b) [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。
8 F2 A( m! P4 _5 R# i* Fhog 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
9 q% J2 x' ]# g+ o3 LWith 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  

* g& Q4 F2 d2 c6 C, `9 H! M, Lto play the lute to a cow ：  offering a treat to a unappreciative audience

% C1 m, q- V' ~& Lto cast pearls before swine

caviar to the general

7 }% a/ N$ _# h+ f! a" Dto preach to deaf ears
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" X3 o5 k" @) x2 Lto talk over sb's head
     

# W( Y6 z8 U8 m5 XThe whistle jigs to a milestone.

! T5 Q$ X' u- `- W$ z3 f% ^' pWith 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 I; g# O/ y& j. m  l, @9 WShe 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。

An nod is as good as a wink to a Blind horse
: w6 S) _  {% k8 I- C1 z对牛弹琴
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playing a harp before a Buffalo
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play the lute to a cow; preach to deaf ears


' d" }3 ^- c4 _: ptalk to a Brick wall
对牛弹琴

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Their hints about his behaviour were water off a duck's back.
0 w! K! W! f/ p, l" Y5 d4 x他们示意他举止不当, 如同对牛弹琴.

! @) z" i9 s2 o3 F[ 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.

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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
7 s' x0 v6 D: W可能这种说法太书面语了，也可能out of date了。
9 u8 a; C+ s/ U$ t6 N也有可能外国人不爱学习，学问高的不多。
' [( G/ ^) l' L9 e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