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
2 : a contemptible person
swine fever  
1 : HOG CHOLERA
6 Z+ |$ @: G2 c  X+ h% B2 : 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。
! S1 w8 u$ g, w. N6 |3 L8 l4 T6 ]pig 是常用词, 指“猪”、“小猪”、“猪肉”, 如: roast pig 烤猪肉。
1 h2 j/ e6 W4 C. ihog 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。
6 s, v- P& w/ [swine 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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（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。
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and from the above sentence, it even doesn't mean  ...

9 ~- g' V) X, Q& h1 U: b8 K/ o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  

to play the lute to a cow ：  offering a treat to a unappreciative audience
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to cast pearls before swine
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caviar to the general
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to preach to deaf ears

to talk over sb's head
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The whistle jigs to a milestone.

With this customer, he felt himself, as it were, casting pearls before swine.
: q1 y5 `" @3 v: M, ]1 B- ?面对这个客商，他感到好像是在对牛弹琴。

5 g/ n$ C- W6 [) N# jShe read them Shakespeare, but it was casting pearls before swine.
  I1 \+ K: t; c) X( z0 |她为他们朗诵莎士比亚著作，但那等于对牛弹琴。
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An nod is as good as a wink to a Blind horse
( B% I2 u; A) u" m! q& \' d  l对牛弹琴

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, r% {+ s0 G0 Z' @& `4 ^4 L1 c- c playing a harp before a Buffalo
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play the lute to a cow; preach to deaf ears

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talk to a Brick wall
对牛弹琴


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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$ Z& |& a4 D4 {: ]' I2 B5 u* v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。
4 ]: R$ U1 n& x! H7 U也有可能外国人不爱学习，学问高的不多。
& _: [9 o* {  I9 K' `3 C/ @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。
9 Y' `, D$ O) @! T7 T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