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
( E" g9 A8 p2 @8 g0 v- |+ b2 : 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
$ T5 r$ U6 B6 V8 s! n+ N9 i© 2005 Merriam-Webster, Incorporated
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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。
4 d  ~+ n) N" s: j* G- Shog 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
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  ...

9 O8 b) z2 r; r/ o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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7 t0 n' ]/ K: j! [5 @# N# @to play the lute to a cow ：  offering a treat to a unappreciative audience
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to cast pearls before swine

caviar to the general
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to preach to deaf ears
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( R3 J1 c" k/ {) Oto talk over sb's head
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# Y$ T( E1 P7 G/ L. xThe whistle jigs to a milestone.
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6 ^. o1 y" p* h! V# T, gWith this customer, he felt himself, as it were, casting pearls before swine.
5 A9 W& x8 |) }9 s3 O面对这个客商，他感到好像是在对牛弹琴。

She 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。
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An nod is as good as a wink to a Blind horse
对牛弹琴
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playing a harp before a Buffalo

, v, s) z7 _5 ?& }: V; u7 ]4 r; ~play the lute to a cow; preach to deaf ears


talk to a Brick wall
对牛弹琴
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3 U7 _- j: a: f: rTheir hints about his behaviour were water off a duck's back.
: u( [5 `9 v3 y( a* N! U! P: o他们示意他举止不当, 如同对牛弹琴.

/ n: V& {+ S- Z4 m' b0 A- [, @: m[ 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
' ^: Y" w( J) T' v8 q8 W* H可能这种说法太书面语了，也可能out of date了。
- j! P  ?4 l, z; e! C- ^2 i3 m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。
5 k2 p5 t- f8 f  _( 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