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
" Q1 |+ K6 R5 t; @2 : 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

1 ]$ r$ B3 \/ {! M- ^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。
: L  @, j+ x8 O& {6 Jpig 是常用词, 指“猪”、“小猪”、“猪肉”, 如: roast pig 烤猪肉。
! \1 b  }7 ?$ G1 A* I2 Yhog 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。
2 g# p8 }4 ?/ N3 Iswine 是文学用语, 指“猪”, 有时借喻“讨厌的人”, 如: You swine! 你这个猪猡!

: M# f# A4 D0 `* y# o: `（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
4 F+ v/ X& k: n3 k: B; 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。
, K8 W, t* T: U$ k, r' z) H0 u! i
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  

to play the lute to a cow ：  offering a treat to a unappreciative audience

0 m! P  P& r+ `2 \( Ito cast pearls before swine

/ W- I- {  c' T4 T! \% i3 Lcaviar to the general

; }9 r1 P! d$ H  P5 wto preach to deaf ears
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to talk over sb's head
     

! R. v: b1 z  {: i( Q8 _' \: R: x% oThe whistle jigs to a milestone.

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.
, t% ?  W, s3 F2 j8 [2 M5 Y她为他们朗诵莎士比亚著作，但那等于对牛弹琴。

2 Y7 A  ~: d  i6 l5 x; i# JAn nod is as good as a wink to a Blind horse
对牛弹琴

8 s  q% I4 u& q
+ A3 z& q% K( ~/ h playing a harp before a Buffalo
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- P) w6 w) V* J( Z9 v  h) ^play the lute to a cow; preach to deaf ears
  m& e" j/ A! R* X: W# Z8 z

, K$ C1 t3 z; L" Q6 ^talk to a Brick wall
% J7 L" I" E; O8 E' ], f$ k对牛弹琴
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9 t1 W" ^; [( C: w" K
. J  R0 ^; O! @# W2 q8 a* Y0 |7 e- cTheir hints about his behaviour were water off a duck's back.
0 W: l2 `# u' f/ _4 b他们示意他举止不当, 如同对牛弹琴.

4 X9 f* R5 K4 S: Q[ 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
# s& n# Q" \6 D, Z- 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.

0 F% @) t) ~& O: ]
( N! f2 p" R, d& Z' Q& Z0 }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
$ |! x0 [) {- W, q1 _4 o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。
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