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
2 : a contemptible person
swine fever  
5 o2 B6 L$ f, j* q1 : HOG CHOLERA
) ?  ~' i: J- |0 F2 : 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 |5 W' J, y% t3 W& e© 2005 Merriam-Webster, Incorporated
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  a0 Z% }3 N+ a  v2 `% K4 |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。
: D7 s4 m  o1 N- x" M! w! b) ^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。
- d: y  t& Y+ Y9 ~1 v  R: wswine 是文学用语, 指“猪”, 有时借喻“讨厌的人”, 如: You swine! 你这个猪猡!

; R. f3 r* I4 `0 }8 f- q2 ^（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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and from the above sentence, it even doesn't mean  ...

) s+ j) n, ]6 S  @2 G8 s) O1 a
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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, y! \7 a$ u/ C$ I8 c$ _% {. x2 X% sto play the lute to a cow ：  offering a treat to a unappreciative audience
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( T* k( @9 X8 M1 fto cast pearls before swine

caviar to the general

to preach to deaf ears
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. U9 K- n; J4 gto talk over sb's head
     

, i6 b$ W4 n3 g: a# }5 V3 N0 V( aThe whistle jigs to a milestone.

With this customer, he felt himself, as it were, casting pearls before swine.
; Q5 d* e2 {. d! ?  M3 b: k面对这个客商，他感到好像是在对牛弹琴。
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5 F4 H% i" a( _$ v6 cShe 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。

An nod is as good as a wink to a Blind horse
对牛弹琴
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  m" D! W0 m' l- H, |, j 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
对牛弹琴
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Their hints about his behaviour were water off a duck's back.
) F' O4 u7 K4 b) j" H/ l) X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
$ Z0 \0 \" K8 ]/ F; j8 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
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。
  J) M% t2 P$ l8 [% K6 y; l$ l* V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