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.
6 v2 ~, r. f" e& s! x/ |' A7 p1 : 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
3 \3 M5 A+ N' t* ^  k2 : a contemptible person
- p2 s( W% B! {( h9 u swine fever  
) Y1 r; s4 W% Q- u& E# @3 |+ N1 : HOG CHOLERA
7 P* d; G: @/ y5 [( g3 o2 : 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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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。
. X  J7 @" u: f( c+ Gpig 是常用词, 指“猪”、“小猪”、“猪肉”, 如: roast pig 烤猪肉。
5 O9 d% t" _2 b1 k6 R! _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。
0 V) m3 y, A4 j  T- v3 p: ^swine 是文学用语, 指“猪”, 有时借喻“讨厌的人”, 如: You swine! 你这个猪猡!

（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
! K3 L/ v0 I/ ^; v: T8 OWith 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  ...

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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  

to play the lute to a cow ：  offering a treat to a unappreciative audience

to cast pearls before swine

$ Q0 ~! M3 e$ ]( V% T5 }  Vcaviar to the general
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: P% Q. c! T! C+ T0 tto preach to deaf ears
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: [. J. D" Y& o, g' h; `0 ?+ eto 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。
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She 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。
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An nod is as good as a wink to a Blind horse
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# X# \% ^" [6 F6 m0 o playing a harp before a Buffalo
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7 K% P% J5 ?8 C# @( S" Nplay the lute to a cow; preach to deaf ears

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talk to a Brick wall
, P0 z$ @1 s6 F% F7 f% E对牛弹琴
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Their hints about his behaviour were water off a duck's back.
2 ?; R! A  B. b) F3 c) N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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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。
2 U' C6 k0 r0 ~2 z1 O3 Z4 B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