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。
4 l4 w2 X, M  K. R7 Q
6 Y  _. X/ Y9 H9 O; Cand 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
& b4 @- G, M* V. @) N9 u swine fever  
8 Q% ]( M" N6 u/ w: e1 : HOG CHOLERA
' c5 _' `8 G; u' F2 : 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
© 2005 Merriam-Webster, Incorporated

, M/ ^+ V" E* D2 i1 i( {2 yThe 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。
$ L# L, s2 }2 x1 v/ @pig 是常用词, 指“猪”、“小猪”、“猪肉”, 如: roast pig 烤猪肉。
$ }, r5 m; [/ n- G! J( }2 K, Shog 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!

（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。

) a9 r6 `0 e' `+ |and from the above sentence, it even doesn't mean  ...

- U! X" n  y' h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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6 X2 L8 H, G- C0 J  m2 e3 }to play the lute to a cow ：  offering a treat to a unappreciative audience
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to cast pearls before swine

1 O( e/ [7 y' M7 P  N3 G6 x5 ncaviar to the general

to preach to deaf ears

0 [( L9 ~. y* `) Gto talk over sb's head
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7 }! C( S* @1 W$ l/ dThe whistle jigs to a milestone.
. w, w- ^* c0 ]! u6 G/ x# ^& y
1 J* l, F9 @, x! b  e3 {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。

* |' f' _. d2 }' P6 z  I$ hShe 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。

3 x. C/ M4 U% MAn nod is as good as a wink to a Blind horse
对牛弹琴
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playing a harp before a Buffalo
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4 ]5 g6 q$ L" f" Zplay the lute to a cow; preach to deaf ears
3 [  Q4 Y' M! E8 k* }
0 u/ u7 r! d* D" D3 e
  W% _7 n5 S& N. F" |% r9 Ztalk to a Brick wall
% |. S- B( B0 Z; @3 Z对牛弹琴
% d. C5 \! c9 I* w. [

7 g$ w4 n/ a' {0 `: ~4 c$ t& eTheir hints about his behaviour were water off a duck's back.
# z3 M9 H& p9 M! G4 T8 O) j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
" g- v; E: x: P; c& M6 Q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.

9 Z; \/ i1 }/ n
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。
" i2 H1 j- {! P也有可能外国人不爱学习，学问高的不多。
  ~, k0 m4 S$ b' r* B9 j- }4 d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