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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0 ?" h! A8 P" C8 n/ gand 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
6 z+ Y. g( U% L  j2 ?2 : a contemptible person
6 B+ Q# [8 T% b 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
' o+ O! n1 l: ?; w4 s4 l% X5 V© 2005 Merriam-Webster, Incorporated

5 T& J$ c, U! jThe 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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0 U- V/ X9 J) z( h: Z& M! k% Z7 v- {（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。

5 f$ a% N! v! }: ^# H5 dand 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  
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/ E( l$ \  M# `3 Zto play the lute to a cow ：  offering a treat to a unappreciative audience
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to cast pearls before swine

$ N# x: Y. ?' N/ |+ [. acaviar to the general

to preach to deaf ears
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7 L/ O9 v; w4 ?0 e; _5 S) Rto talk over sb's head
     

The whistle jigs to a milestone.
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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.
她为他们朗诵莎士比亚著作，但那等于对牛弹琴。
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' I1 W8 K7 u1 [+ [; VAn nod is as good as a wink to a Blind horse
  N! [6 R7 ~0 T# u, S! q- h对牛弹琴

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playing a harp before a Buffalo
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' d. C: }& Q) U  z+ m! Y  L$ n1 T) fplay the lute to a cow; preach to deaf ears
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2 K0 M, }3 `+ B- P3 v3 z0 _
8 d  U+ X/ b. j& ?! F) stalk to a Brick wall
对牛弹琴
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Their hints about his behaviour were water off a duck's back.
9 M4 }3 [- Y2 k# `他们示意他举止不当, 如同对牛弹琴.
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% }: Z( H" A, m4 \: ~& @[ 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.

4 @& w2 W5 {( f' s4 n" `
: f+ S- ^2 x% |1 b/ H6 H# W2 R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。
; I# {) p8 \8 \/ o1 e- Y7 x0 d1 N也有可能外国人不爱学习，学问高的不多。
( J* A9 O7 \% t) t) C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