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
+ B) y$ }. U" w# v! Y4 d; ?2 : a contemptible person
swine fever  
1 : HOG CHOLERA
$ D* H' _8 G0 t  n2 : 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

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。
- M+ ^; ~6 o" V5 w( {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。
; B# j) b( Z3 E- s$ D. X3 S$ z  Jswine 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。
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: x% L( s4 n5 @" \* P3 }and from the above sentence, it even doesn't mean  ...

. ^) k: K! [6 ^, p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

0 f* d* d3 `+ Y& n9 N: lto cast pearls before swine

caviar to the general
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to preach to deaf ears
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to talk over sb's head
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3 c8 X9 B. }6 CThe whistle jigs to a milestone.

7 b5 h9 K' V5 v6 b; A2 \' lWith this customer, he felt himself, as it were, casting pearls before swine.
" |+ E" M2 i" ]2 }. Z' b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
对牛弹琴
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- _; W; d/ ?8 H playing a harp before a Buffalo
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play the lute to a cow; preach to deaf ears
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( m# x" F- B2 ~4 `2 stalk to a Brick wall
$ U- R0 i/ v; o对牛弹琴

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# I+ r9 F4 M. Q6 G/ G* j9 f) OTheir hints about his behaviour were water off a duck's back.
$ e* U7 X, T6 D( g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 [% B1 I+ W( m9 E/ M( 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.

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
! \$ H  W: B, [5 ]: J1 C可能这种说法太书面语了，也可能out of date了。
) ^( j/ A- D6 }" A: E/ {# Z也有可能外国人不爱学习，学问高的不多。
8 Q+ m7 @+ l$ d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