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
! u( i+ [) i) F) g# Z- ` swine fever  
8 R/ E) A6 Y- U( @3 L3 T1 : 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
$ ], e8 ]/ f( M- m: \. k$ N- S+ u© 2005 Merriam-Webster, Incorporated

1 ^# l/ o1 }# J- D" 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。
1 Y" c$ ~! {0 Apig 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。
4 Z3 \: C8 R  b! t- J5 \# ~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
& n0 n" h- N3 YWith 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。

1 a2 X9 ~, c: x# c( R  Pand from the above sentence, it even doesn't mean  ...

0 {& I. H) q1 W- v- D! d2 M6 t6 ]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

to cast pearls before swine
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: ]! y5 m8 q8 t) T0 Ycaviar to the general

to preach to deaf ears

7 U2 D2 g8 @1 C8 U7 H% x( G* Uto talk over sb's head
     
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9 d6 D2 d: n. x$ q: eThe whistle jigs to a milestone.
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. L. v: c+ e6 aWith 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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9 p+ p% w# H4 }: OShe 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。

An nod is as good as a wink to a Blind horse
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# V3 X$ [. t1 k7 _; n playing a harp before a Buffalo
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2 _; r, `9 A1 rplay the lute to a cow; preach to deaf ears
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talk to a Brick wall
对牛弹琴
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7 q, ]+ u, {) M7 i2 ZTheir hints about his behaviour were water off a duck's back.
& A3 K2 K! }! }他们示意他举止不当, 如同对牛弹琴.

% ~+ E6 Z) W/ J9 \- d" o  P# Z[ 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.

9 B/ i2 r" R; Z# d" O, [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。
也有可能外国人不爱学习，学问高的不多。
( V1 ~2 ]2 `  y% A* u" T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