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 u2 f1 O* V6 ?( X" F; ?8 jand 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
! f; s6 H" u' H2 : 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
© 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。
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。
, K3 C4 q+ ]3 d% E1 Xswine 是文学用语, 指“猪”, 有时借喻“讨厌的人”, 如: You swine! 你这个猪猡!

: c4 `# s: n! t6 \7 `0 W（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  ...

4 _/ c8 j6 y% K" Y8 u3 m3 I2 t# u7 Z
# _% M2 m3 l& R1 v* k4 B' e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  

4 X1 Z' x, H; Kto play the lute to a cow ：  offering a treat to a unappreciative audience
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" z6 ^& V1 T' a* @to cast pearls before swine
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caviar to the general

to preach to deaf ears
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$ a3 d. t2 y3 zto talk over sb's head
" l. L1 U# B6 ?5 l     
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The whistle jigs to a milestone.

+ M/ i. G5 G* I9 ^: T% n# S% F! b& @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。
' d" [7 a$ ]  f5 y7 u; [- v
( E2 S( ?3 R8 TShe read them Shakespeare, but it was casting pearls before swine.
3 @" ]# W% }- c4 I* E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

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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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# T4 g! r4 L" o( vtalk to a Brick wall
对牛弹琴

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& [4 h1 }: T- @9 f8 m* BTheir 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.

3 Q+ x; C) f' m* \# Y8 `* k[ 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.

& V) J& ~' b: R  ~
- g. |3 V: n) h& r7 y7 F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
# t( c: w7 W1 I7 P/ e& X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。
  {" i- H; ~) G2 _' b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