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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and 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
$ n0 e' C  y9 K& H2 : a contemptible person
; `9 o8 `6 d. v4 r( h$ A swine fever  
1 : HOG CHOLERA
; d6 p1 w, S( J  X& g2 : 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
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3 q/ {' _$ t( Q+ {& pThe 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。
1 R; M0 \! `* ~! g# w; d1 dpig 是常用词, 指“猪”、“小猪”、“猪肉”, 如: roast pig 烤猪肉。
% F3 Y% C/ _1 d3 ]( {9 p) }0 lhog 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。
- x% U6 T4 P' K8 b  K) z* Y# qswine 是文学用语, 指“猪”, 有时借喻“讨厌的人”, 如: You swine! 你这个猪猡!

) ~: O7 ]* o/ y5 f（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
& V% D( W5 u5 O. R6 L7 ?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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% s2 R* n' J: p* P( m5 d& _  F4 Wand 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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% L- G9 |4 \  F2 h( Mto play the lute to a cow ：  offering a treat to a unappreciative audience

to cast pearls before swine
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) v2 D! t! P/ L( f" ecaviar to the general
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7 f1 U' ^6 y2 a8 Wto preach to deaf ears
4 p) J" `- e+ ?- f( ^, E$ y+ I3 O
- i. _( I* w! ?) U  kto talk over sb's head
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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.
! \& z, N3 h  a! G* o- }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 Q# p7 v1 L9 M$ `4 AAn nod is as good as a wink to a Blind horse
对牛弹琴

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5 t: {' S) z# X3 f9 r playing a harp before a Buffalo

  n0 w+ F) u0 C; y9 k( z3 Rplay the lute to a cow; preach to deaf ears

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talk to a Brick wall
' j3 V( H: W) D! m4 f对牛弹琴
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/ c3 H! ]$ M) ]& ]: P* Z+ TTheir hints about his behaviour were water off a duck's back.
% r. ~' A7 O! D他们示意他举止不当, 如同对牛弹琴.
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: @3 E& Z; c, i, ~# s4 R[ 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.

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
( F$ o; C$ N4 H, B7 z9 M5 L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。
* I6 o/ B2 ~. j% M. z+ ~. _. U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