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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4 G4 i6 w5 Z+ o4 h$ G9 ^8 R' j( Dand from the above sentence, it even doesn't mean pig.

billzhao

swine    n.
3 X1 o6 p2 B" ?0 j; {. _4 P1 : 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
3 |3 J+ N+ z. B$ G( u, T) S1 f swine fever  
1 : HOG CHOLERA
  U/ X2 j9 Z6 g% |3 ?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

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。
! [1 X3 s; q+ Q  Rpig 是常用词, 指“猪”、“小猪”、“猪肉”, 如: roast pig 烤猪肉。
4 ?6 C) N8 E/ U5 p& Y! c" jhog 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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（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  ...

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

$ B: a; e, D2 v& O; E6 sto cast pearls before swine
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caviar to the general
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to preach to deaf ears
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. y) C+ Z4 h( j6 j- j* [to talk over sb's head
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The whistle jigs to a milestone.

0 d- a/ [, _) [3 UWith this customer, he felt himself, as it were, casting pearls before swine.
0 l& q2 Y1 C8 y. h# H面对这个客商，他感到好像是在对牛弹琴。

* X" ~0 _* s; v! ~, lShe read them Shakespeare, but it was casting pearls before swine.
! e0 i, F8 i$ P; r; q6 ^8 u& X1 m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
: i$ u" h/ V4 f$ e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
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talk to a Brick wall
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. R$ @0 q8 Y. ?/ bTheir hints about his behaviour were water off a duck's back.
- @  x( f- O3 _( g/ P" `7 i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
( v  ]* T$ j. Y8 P& N4 O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
( ?/ c1 V, ^, Q3 t' r# Z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。
; t. c: \( ^# w- j4 ^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