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。

3 J- i: z' O- z& `. p+ I6 Land 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 ]+ L( T" q% Z0 N1 {8 j2 : a contemptible person
swine fever  
. W5 M' \: A0 `9 M/ ]; C1 : 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
# M+ v, p+ \" l( Q/ r/ B' z© 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。
: c# s$ I" J& \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。
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。

# c( {5 h5 p, E/ gand 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  
) H/ A9 f% m' Y5 M
% J& y. n* [8 `% N% i$ y) l( Zto play the lute to a cow ：  offering a treat to a unappreciative audience

! F; P, |" ^) m3 V" e- Nto cast pearls before swine

# O% x' o. P' x& Scaviar to the general

to preach to deaf ears
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. o& f$ ^  e4 @: D  bto talk over sb's head
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The whistle jigs to a milestone.
& \: x! ^6 E8 O  A1 c& x) j" u: e
% x' Z) n0 P1 O5 }( ?/ WWith 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.
+ {9 a. a( b* y- V她为他们朗诵莎士比亚著作，但那等于对牛弹琴。
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An nod is as good as a wink to a Blind horse
对牛弹琴

1 i0 d( ~; b( b) ~9 P" w
playing a harp before a Buffalo
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9 Y0 L' ^, S% Zplay the lute to a cow; preach to deaf ears


/ V6 ?+ g# a" ]" S. Ttalk to a Brick wall
对牛弹琴


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.

[ 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.

& _5 I3 V- W1 d. ?( 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
: `! N- E: e/ k5 u& G  |+ C. S可能这种说法太书面语了，也可能out of date了。
, \1 p6 b5 X2 S* R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