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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& f* q; W$ a) _" x6 Q$ `and from the above sentence, it even doesn't mean pig.

billzhao

swine    n.
% N5 W; M! ^$ y1 _, l+ n  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
2 : a contemptible person
0 y% p9 M! z8 a- L! |5 ]" U% p5 z swine fever  
1 : HOG CHOLERA
. Q! C1 s5 e7 a2 : 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。
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。
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。

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
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to cast pearls before swine
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caviar to the general

to preach to deaf ears
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* _. S. b- w  ]% M# y" R+ ?& I- wto talk over sb's head
     
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The whistle jigs to a milestone.

. v+ `: W; n* dWith this customer, he felt himself, as it were, casting pearls before swine.
! P. P) Y( g6 Z0 l$ |面对这个客商，他感到好像是在对牛弹琴。

3 P! n! f( ?# S5 h0 K  `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。

# D3 Y9 a: s3 E9 {An nod is as good as a wink to a Blind horse
对牛弹琴
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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
. F6 Q8 M# x" d# g* f对牛弹琴

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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.

[ 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
! ~6 T* [9 G# Y& \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.

- m) D* G7 i) a2 U: E+ Y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
" w. [" X) x, W4 n可能这种说法太书面语了，也可能out of date了。
! g8 \- E* G0 I( J也有可能外国人不爱学习，学问高的不多。
4 B' b3 l) s; W9 K, ~; d7 z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。
8 `( S& W) G3 k* q* ~! _, ~8 U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