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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2 q& E  ?8 q, u5 Rand 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  
+ E& r2 |5 u0 O- ^: @* f% I# f' r1 : 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
5 U0 _; b1 D% e© 2005 Merriam-Webster, Incorporated

: c+ ]& Y  Q% sThe 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。
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。
6 O6 G1 R$ D) w1 O" i5 W: w- m- Aswine 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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4 {8 f" J6 m/ u（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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$ L2 j" J" Z# ^- r' g5 k3 Mand from the above sentence, it even doesn't mean  ...

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; E# I4 _$ G( q3 }: ]. a1 z) t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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to play the lute to a cow ：  offering a treat to a unappreciative audience

5 B3 J5 h, A& l: ]6 t+ L' d) Pto cast pearls before swine

caviar to the general

9 |3 G8 e2 R3 Z' W4 R0 O9 X4 W8 zto preach to deaf ears
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to talk over sb's head
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  S. U5 A1 t" i+ |: K  J1 yThe whistle jigs to a milestone.
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With this customer, he felt himself, as it were, casting pearls before swine.
$ d9 }  u. S- M3 ]8 W. V) b面对这个客商，他感到好像是在对牛弹琴。

( \- b) G1 m/ R# a3 a) k6 a* QShe read them Shakespeare, but it was casting pearls before swine.
! B! L% l7 G: R( S* h; J" X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
( h3 W! x: h, L/ A, w# s9 x对牛弹琴

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" m. G9 l1 d! g. t1 X2 u* ~# _ playing a harp before a Buffalo
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play the lute to a cow; preach to deaf ears
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) `* z. t( ]& Rtalk to a Brick wall
对牛弹琴
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# D9 Y0 u" A) f3 |4 @0 z6 J
Their hints about his behaviour were water off a duck's back.
& p2 E/ C# K4 m  \& n4 e  W他们示意他举止不当, 如同对牛弹琴.

5 j  C5 X) ?" r/ m[ 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.

. j: b& N9 H+ a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。
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。
5 F- J. P6 t& E+ {: g0 a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