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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7 }" r7 x; y1 e) N$ Z9 uand from the above sentence, it even doesn't mean pig.

billzhao

swine    n.
* I6 O, w- i, N& W1 : 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  
, z$ C- {! @$ R' o9 P3 _$ o1 : HOG CHOLERA
  Y2 w. o( [& V. h4 E7 }3 x% F1 K5 K2 : 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
6 d( R3 |3 F7 d; X$ Z* J6 Y© 2005 Merriam-Webster, Incorporated
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! C, u+ v! [  nThe 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。
3 L  ~$ E) \# [* ?# r4 ]pig 是常用词, 指“猪”、“小猪”、“猪肉”, 如: roast pig 烤猪肉。
7 {4 Z' ?7 e/ ~2 p3 ghog 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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（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  ...

! s) W6 }$ w0 ]% Q3 n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
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2 U/ A; h8 m8 P+ I7 [to cast pearls before swine
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caviar to the general
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to preach to deaf ears

to talk over sb's head
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+ W, \7 |) U' t) `6 tThe whistle jigs to a milestone.

+ e2 |0 L- B6 l  U, A  yWith this customer, he felt himself, as it were, casting pearls before swine.
- W0 ^; R& G# f面对这个客商，他感到好像是在对牛弹琴。
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% C6 F' y5 k- }She read them Shakespeare, but it was casting pearls before swine.
! ~% D0 w6 }9 I) s6 r她为他们朗诵莎士比亚著作，但那等于对牛弹琴。
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1 j7 f5 f0 I7 W) _An nod is as good as a wink to a Blind horse
! Y5 l2 u7 ?( V4 k对牛弹琴


playing a harp before a Buffalo
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play the lute to a cow; preach to deaf ears

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talk to a Brick wall
6 u: B7 G: c$ p7 a! s% o# X对牛弹琴
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6 ?! V0 V7 T  m7 P2 F, ]
2 {# o$ C3 [) w8 q8 ]9 WTheir 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.

) s  C1 h2 n- M3 f# ?; z/ I& 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
可能这种说法太书面语了，也可能out of date了。
( {$ ~) W% y8 t8 I% m也有可能外国人不爱学习，学问高的不多。
1 F& Q; L9 E3 u4 f. F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。
0 j! U! R7 T+ d- `0 ^6 N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