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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5 r* l5 O: I" ^' T. q5 Uand 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
7 Y% U9 o$ U+ }5 t2 : a contemptible person
/ T8 S% z# F' M# R3 m" X8 o4 ~ swine fever  
5 ]$ O! i- b9 V' y8 w% V& t1 : 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

8 H& R1 V4 t( |1 y( ^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。
* h* `- G$ c7 l6 v' R3 ipig 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。
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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* r) z  r4 B2 n. b0 q+ C1 Q（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
8 }  B$ Y! o8 E) S4 c  z2 mWith 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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2 y; }1 k$ o" m8 F6 g, d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  

* h7 C$ ^6 u* x$ d" w7 J$ Cto play the lute to a cow ：  offering a treat to a unappreciative audience

; n+ s# }6 P; ?  G# E. \to 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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3 a' T0 M1 n" G! Y# \# yto talk over sb's head
$ [+ K' @, v& t) P* X( g; B* \     
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3 X7 Q+ g; p7 O4 V/ BThe whistle jigs to a milestone.
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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。

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。

! S! c& p- b7 }/ {  t5 aAn nod is as good as a wink to a Blind horse
1 D7 i% x& i& j* }% w+ g# J: _/ `对牛弹琴
3 i5 Q& E9 R5 L8 M" e& S* }

playing a harp before a Buffalo

1 g8 E' A3 n0 y  `, vplay the lute to a cow; preach to deaf ears


  \; f) Y& A+ Z7 otalk to a Brick wall
对牛弹琴

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; l' K3 m+ @; W$ r4 hTheir 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.

[ 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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3 ^* r& H0 Z8 X$ A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。
% @. m/ y( A7 ~; C: w* `6 U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