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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5 D. [7 I8 \; d- X$ m4 I0 Yand 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
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
© 2005 Merriam-Webster, Incorporated

. k/ D& L( `' {" W- {  s1 _: uThe 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。
/ G$ j: {: _: }3 ~  C4 {9 Bpig 是常用词, 指“猪”、“小猪”、“猪肉”, 如: roast pig 烤猪肉。
2 X0 a% b# z* n$ v0 c6 R( [6 |4 _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!

（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。
' O) Z2 S6 P) B" P* d  V6 C
and from the above sentence, it even doesn't mean  ...

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' T; V6 O$ o% k$ b. j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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8 p: W# X! H2 uto play the lute to a cow ：  offering a treat to a unappreciative audience

to cast pearls before swine

caviar to the general

to preach to deaf ears
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. |* l6 l" Q: y1 q2 \5 S9 G; Rto talk over sb's head
     

7 b" e" j* }7 L4 p  p5 u! SThe 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.
; F& E% q0 m8 q' A* F' p她为他们朗诵莎士比亚著作，但那等于对牛弹琴。
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+ ~5 k/ A; x2 U: g  E# }/ X5 ZAn nod is as good as a wink to a Blind horse
对牛弹琴
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) B6 d8 g7 ^* S& O% f2 z playing a harp before a Buffalo

2 k* T7 f5 O+ N5 V2 L5 Tplay the lute to a cow; preach to deaf ears


talk to a Brick wall
* W% b8 D( J; i* o( B, t4 L3 L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.
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$ f6 z& g+ r* k+ ]* e[ 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
( n! `+ U( {9 m( \$ K+ d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.

* k( v: `: B+ I* Q3 p% M) ~
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
9 K% W, X7 A% R; W/ ~/ G) |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。
& l2 _- N0 T, }3 i8 I1 `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。
$ i/ d4 w! u0 p1 k& s& K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