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
2 : a contemptible person
! H( k+ Y, E5 q9 \/ ~0 } swine fever  
8 R$ N$ c; y  A. Q% O, P3 E1 : 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
: _, @9 H/ D( D& |& r0 ~8 ]1 u© 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。
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
. l6 p9 U8 a- w7 GWith 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。

# Q. E6 L' W9 I: }! W) Qand 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  
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to play the lute to a cow ：  offering a treat to a unappreciative audience
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* b+ W$ U" H+ `" cto cast pearls before swine
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' J  ]: Q+ I; Scaviar to the general

2 C1 ^1 O# d& A6 S: U1 ]; Bto preach to deaf ears
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4 T  S8 `8 k: N- i& T( `! E$ j; Hto talk over sb's head
     
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  B: Y# ^% o0 J. `/ TThe whistle jigs to a milestone.

# p9 T+ F3 h- F1 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。
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0 J/ U5 x( z- E7 PShe read them Shakespeare, but it was casting pearls before swine.
她为他们朗诵莎士比亚著作，但那等于对牛弹琴。
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9 g) _% K. J; H' ]An nod is as good as a wink to a Blind horse
对牛弹琴


; r3 i# u3 o" l: r playing a harp before a Buffalo

& f$ j  o2 f9 K& v" F2 ]play the lute to a cow; preach to deaf ears
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talk to a Brick wall
对牛弹琴

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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.

% N7 i1 y8 T2 l& e* ^$ ]! i+ \  z[ 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
" z1 v  |+ M$ a0 F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.

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2 t+ g: g, m. i7 A* S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
6 r2 t) F9 D1 \' D+ {可能这种说法太书面语了，也可能out of date了。
# F2 w) B: r8 ]* e也有可能外国人不爱学习，学问高的不多。
0 X2 O  y3 L7 W. d) D" T2 z- k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