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。

9 ^' r# r5 Y7 ~/ e7 T$ A, Dand 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
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
1 F8 \/ \- _# I) ^1 d© 2005 Merriam-Webster, Incorporated
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1 W' m+ D, ]$ U4 b# [. KThe 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。
# y+ w8 V8 A, Y2 I. X& Y0 hhog 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 I& _) D  p0 Q0 Sswine 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
3 L" g9 v8 n- T. h! D2 qWith 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  ...

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
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to cast pearls before swine

/ S8 f' Y0 z$ Jcaviar to the general

) N- W5 g* s$ L% ?- Z: a5 Oto preach to deaf ears
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to talk over sb's head
3 B" _! H. k' `) |$ O     

% p7 K  R0 H" T/ a/ D. x' s  YThe whistle jigs to a milestone.
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  G! l8 B( G  e: D7 |1 f2 kWith 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/ `" g3 r5 v3 JShe read them Shakespeare, but it was casting pearls before swine.
8 k9 M1 ~) O; w9 m/ ~# ?7 j" `9 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
4 W* r' L" K, y- v) T. U' [' K6 D! B对牛弹琴


playing a harp before a Buffalo

; U) o& j/ S# P+ Yplay the lute to a cow; preach to deaf ears


talk to a Brick wall
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.
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7 @( F, V) F8 ^$ Q; D4 U[ 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
  N+ h. [$ `' @7 a, p. W  k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.

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
1 v& W4 N/ t- x, U& E9 x可能这种说法太书面语了，也可能out of date了。
- E) p! f$ j, D也有可能外国人不爱学习，学问高的不多。
) |3 E5 b) m: m* R4 z6 H  O0 F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。
; \* F1 g+ r" @5 S: o% l5 c3 S9 X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