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。

$ J, \2 o  t/ k7 P. ~. R) d6 }and from the above sentence, it even doesn't mean pig.

billzhao

swine    n.
# ^2 k. N6 {( s1 : 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
  k; O; H1 Q4 s! z0 N, [( ^8 e2 : a contemptible person
swine fever  
1 : HOG CHOLERA
9 V$ b: \: N3 W0 J  ^3 Q2 : 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
& q! G1 W8 S3 |© 2005 Merriam-Webster, Incorporated
3 E8 ^& ]2 B' O; ?7 v
4 k7 l+ J4 q2 n& `) r, iThe 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。
, E; N! m" s, s# ]1 P5 Dhog 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。
; O0 u/ h; n# o  uswine 是文学用语, 指“猪”, 有时借喻“讨厌的人”, 如: You swine! 你这个猪猡!
; C. b" D* u. a" u
5 u. Y1 S2 y1 I" u1 s+ S（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  ...

4 f" A8 W# O3 ?5 B* @
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  
7 M: ^, u0 L3 C# i# U
# A* E8 `' k" `1 s$ P) ~to play the lute to a cow ：  offering a treat to a unappreciative audience

to cast pearls before swine
% O$ E; }4 ~* N7 Q4 _1 V  h
$ B0 w3 v7 l) G# A9 s" Ocaviar to the general

: w# F* u; W) F4 E* G1 Mto preach to deaf ears

to talk over sb's head
     

The whistle jigs to a milestone.
7 Z+ }& R- W2 i
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% A+ B. D) ?/ ?5 s( d2 v
9 [" t/ I1 E4 A* S& W% BShe read them Shakespeare, but it was casting pearls before swine.
/ z" `+ w1 ?1 x3 V0 J, e# z她为他们朗诵莎士比亚著作，但那等于对牛弹琴。

An nod is as good as a wink to a Blind horse
4 g% @) H$ M" w7 T对牛弹琴
' k. _. |7 `$ ~4 }, r5 H

playing a harp before a Buffalo
8 q! [& V7 o3 q6 A% s
play the lute to a cow; preach to deaf ears


talk to a Brick wall
对牛弹琴
1 |- w2 a! l' y! `$ u% R
, J' p8 O6 j6 Z* E, W
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.

[ 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.

8 v+ }) h' x# p7 k' }% A; o9 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
3 Z3 u- a* m( V2 N& }4 J可能这种说法太书面语了，也可能out of date了。
4 j6 o6 k0 H. K6 e: b也有可能外国人不爱学习，学问高的不多。
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。
* j! x- F. A; Y* _4 C( s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