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。
9 ]6 h1 d/ u5 i. J8 Y6 T- R0 O
  F5 U( j, v* f5 c2 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
8 q) g: ?$ [( H: V7 I7 u2 : 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
, L2 j5 k0 z) J
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 s3 L! o* L3 m2 n  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。
* w8 `+ _: o' ^  t  f3 J% }; {. Uswine 是文学用语, 指“猪”, 有时借喻“讨厌的人”, 如: You swine! 你这个猪猡!
7 b9 n4 g! M! N
（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。
3 r) a, ~2 s0 U8 y: ?
4 ]* I2 Z5 i9 ]8 I% Q7 sand 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  

to play the lute to a cow ：  offering a treat to a unappreciative audience
1 H/ L* `. e: V. `: i
to cast pearls before swine

" r9 r8 I  c9 _& p4 |& t+ Tcaviar to the general
6 K+ P. g+ J7 m! q1 y) |
to preach to deaf ears

- k5 d% J/ f& Zto talk over sb's head
' w  @' `; o# R     

6 `) d& z1 I& [4 PThe whistle jigs to a milestone.

8 G+ }/ L( }% @! ]( N  z4 |5 A) {With this customer, he felt himself, as it were, casting pearls before swine.
9 o. H. b* g$ r& u; s6 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。

An nod is as good as a wink to a Blind horse
对牛弹琴

9 P7 q; }7 V% V/ ]
playing a harp before a Buffalo
: }1 J" M% z6 P' z
play the lute to a cow; preach to deaf ears
' Y3 V9 M$ ]' v& Q: W

talk to a Brick wall
对牛弹琴

: c; Q0 }" i. W1 S. b# U
Their 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.
8 L4 s2 J' P, ], H2 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
0 G$ p! x& M! u+ i, e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.

$ k$ ]$ S" W9 J/ d( O/ S, v/ }9 B
9 A) j; d/ {" ~9 q; [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。
也有可能外国人不爱学习，学问高的不多。
" \6 r# }2 U. 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。
( Z  ?, t; B, a3 {+ R6 y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