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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- a% ~/ u$ ]/ e7 L6 G. Hand 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  
# [2 i' D" a1 V+ @1 : HOG CHOLERA
! e$ ^$ h7 U; `4 j1 @% z$ K/ L2 : 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

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。
8 f1 y5 U# ^4 O# ~7 bpig 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。
+ J& r; ~7 P5 Vswine 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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# ~. [& q+ \: b3 ~/ R% C4 g3 V* A（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  
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9 N3 s, W+ s  |* m4 R5 qto play the lute to a cow ：  offering a treat to a unappreciative audience
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6 ]. E* ~+ M4 _9 vto cast pearls before swine

! ^# D) L) b: e$ I3 Jcaviar to the general
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% D4 z& d. M  M9 W+ bto preach to deaf ears

to talk over sb's head
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7 |/ x7 E- o+ J- p% s& GThe whistle jigs to a milestone.
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4 |, h3 z8 E) nWith this customer, he felt himself, as it were, casting pearls before swine.
" ?- X* X+ q% t8 K, ?3 q面对这个客商，他感到好像是在对牛弹琴。

0 s/ q$ @$ a% R! F4 p* u7 X, c7 nShe 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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' j# g; C4 D4 dAn nod is as good as a wink to a Blind horse
对牛弹琴
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5 G2 \& Y8 e7 p) i8 h/ e" ]  h7 Y* B
! K6 y* d$ @& _ playing a harp before a Buffalo
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; c* ^" X8 U; f: T. J" s, S( ~5 P' Q, Cplay the lute to a cow; preach to deaf ears

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* L4 M# L5 N# w! A# dtalk to a Brick wall
: s8 q; l+ X4 Y$ p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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[ 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.

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1 a5 _7 ], Q; R$ e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
% w! A) W! C" A6 m- t7 b可能这种说法太书面语了，也可能out of date了。
4 S( O" w9 ], w* A1 b+ C也有可能外国人不爱学习，学问高的不多。
) J4 H! P- I0 i8 ^4 j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