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.
6 l4 c! `8 K; h; l* ^3 N1 : 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
) I/ q4 T1 }4 h# h swine fever  
1 : HOG CHOLERA
' N0 |6 \9 R9 y+ ~' D/ O2 : 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
) f% T4 C- K1 k& E© 2005 Merriam-Webster, Incorporated
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) Y5 r& ?# |2 u2 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。
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!

; `7 M% S: _+ K（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  ...

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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  

: ~3 Y4 d- H: A8 Kto play the lute to a cow ：  offering a treat to a unappreciative audience
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" e' ]; f7 E( E" V0 R* zto cast pearls before swine
3 p. Q3 S6 x- s( s
6 g0 Z0 U$ U4 pcaviar to the general

to preach to deaf ears
6 p/ ^4 k6 ?- a* h
to talk over sb's head
6 _1 ~! c7 n" `: Y     
( c' |* |+ h+ _* u+ i
The whistle jigs to a milestone.
8 x8 \) W9 B$ q) f
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.
9 p- I" [# B# m7 H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
2 w9 S( x3 ]3 L. Y2 P" h对牛弹琴

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* m) O# Q. r5 N+ o0 w% U4 v# V playing a harp before a Buffalo

" Z3 P4 J3 w( `  e  I, t. i  ~9 ~1 zplay the lute to a cow; preach to deaf ears


* Y' T; K% U- j$ atalk to a Brick wall
对牛弹琴

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9 `8 U) [9 o) y2 lTheir 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.
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+ c9 C6 m- J1 l) w; D[ 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.

" u; ]( Z8 C- Y. g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
  y8 V, X( y( v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