Questions tagged [idiom]
For questions concerning expressions, word-plays, symbolic language, metaphors and the likes.
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How do you write dates in Latin?
I have read a little about the history of the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Julius Caesar introduced the twelve-month Julian calendar in 46 BC, and Pope Gregory XIII introduced the Gregorian ...
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How to say "everything will be good" in Latin?
I wanted to find out how to say in Latin "everything will be good" (like in "all'll gon'a be fine"). I came up with Omnium bene futurum. Is this o.k., or am I too ill-Latined?
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Quando "a fortiori" ortum est?
Quando vocabulum a fortiori (sive a fortiore) ortum est ut nomen artis legis logicæve? In quo opere scripto primum apparuit?
Volo intellegere eius rationem originis verificareque verbum elisum "...
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What did the Romans use to close their letters?
As anyone who's written a proper letter knows, one begins with a salutation and ends with a valediction (or, in normal English, opens with "hello" and ends with "goodbye"). Right ...
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Parallels for the infinitive in "memento mori"?
The famous phrase memento mori (the subject of this question) means something like "remember that you will die, remember you are mortal". But this use of the infinitive seems odd.
Memini is often ...
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"How do you do?"
How to ask "How do you do?" in Latin.
Quomodo te habes, is it common?
What other common greetings for the "How are you?" exist?
I have seen:
Quomodo es?
Quid agis?
Quomodo te habes?
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How do you say "please" in Classical Latin?
I'm wondering how to say "please" in Classical Latin like "please" as in "can I PLEASE have that?" or "PLEASE go away" or something like that.
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What is a Latin version of Inshallah?
Anyone who served in the military in Iraq (and probably anyone who has done business in the Gulf) in the last 15 years is familiar with the term 'Inshallah.' I suppose it means 'God willing,' as in, "...
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What would be a "night owl" in Latin?
On the recommendation of an esteemed Finnish member of our forum, I decided to ask how one would translate "night owl" into Latin.
night owl (noun)
a person who keeps late hours at night
I ...
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Proper parsing of "Ite, missa est"
In the Catholic liturgy at the dismissal, the Latin phrase used is "Ite, missa est." The usual translation for this is "Go, the Mass has ended."
Can someone suggest a proper parsing of this somewhat ...
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How do I address an email in Latin to my Latin professor?
How do I address an email in Latin to my Latin professor? How is the greeting supposed to look?
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Parsing "quod Deus optime vertat"
I want to understand a diploma text:
DIPLOMA
QVOD DEVS OPTIME VERTAT
EX LEGIBVS
VNIVERSITATIS JYVÄSKYLÄENSIS
ATQVE EX DECRETO
FACVLTATIS (…)
If I consider Diploma as a ...
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"How about" in Latin
How do you propose an idea for someone else to accept, reject, or counteroffer, as in this conversation?
A. Where would you like to have dinner tonight?
B. How about Rex Aztecorum on Fourth Street?
...
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Latin Phrase for "It goes without saying"
The title of the question pretty much sums it up.
I am looking for a Latin phrase for the English expression "It goes without saying." I am not sure if an analogous expression exists- although I would ...
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What is Peniculus insinuating with his reference to Samian crockery?
Introduction and question
Pl. Men. 1.2.71.
Pēn.
Metuis, crēdō, nē forēs sămiae sient.
Pēniculus
You fear, I believe, that the doors may be Samian*.
* By [Henry Thomas Riley][1] translated as ‘of ...
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How to order someone to want something?
I asked yesterday about the imperative of velle, and it turned out that does not really have an imperative.
If the most obvious option is not available, how should I give an order to want?
A phrase or ...
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How to phrase "it took two hours"?
In English or Finnish I can express the time it took to complete something in two ways, but in Latin only one:
E: "I did it in two hours."
F: "Tein sen kahdessa tunnissa."
L: Duabus horis id perfeci.
...
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What is "old" in the age of a wine?
If I were to say "this man is 40 years old" in Latin, I would say hic vir 40 annos natus est.
That is, I would use the participle natus instead of any adjective meaning "old", and it is my impression ...
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Ending a letter in Latin
Salvete,
How would I sign my name at the end of a letter in Latin? Would the Nominative (Paulus) case be the normal way? Or do I need the ablative (Paulō) to imply "from/by Paulus"?
Gratias vobis ...
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Idiom like "Fair enough!"
If someone disagrees with you and the argument makes you change your opinion, you might say "Fair enough!" in English. This seems to be essentially equivalent to "Oh, good point! I agree."
Is there a ...
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"Laughing our heads off" in Latin
As a follow-up of an interesting question on a typological classification of Latin (Are Latin verbs of motion satellite-framed or verb-framed? ), I was wondering if Latin has (semi)idiomatic ...
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"Oh no!" in Latin
Are there idiomatic Latin exclamations similar to the English "oh no!" used when one finds oneself in an unfortunate situation?
The only thing that I came up with is that I might want to use vae or o ...
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What is "slipped my mind" in Latin?
In English and other languages, we often use alternatives to "I forgot," apparently to shift blame from ourselves to inanimate objects. So in English, we say,
It slipped my mind.
And in Spanish:
...
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Is the usage of "id est" in Latin exactly like the usage of "i.e." or "that is" in English?
There was a question a little while back on the English SE asking about the "plural form of i.e." (unfortunately, it got closed because the author didn't clarify what they meant).
While I was trying ...
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Omnia vincit amor: vincere or vincire?
The phrase omnia vincit amor (from Vergilius' tenth Ecloga; see full text in Latin and English) is typically translated as "love conquers everything".
However, vincit can come from either vincere (to ...
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What do animals say in classical Latin?
It is well known that the way animals "speak" is amusingly different in different languages.
(See lion below.)
This makes it hard to guess what kinds of words the Romans would have put in the mouths ...
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How did the Romans wish good birthday?
I know how to wish a happy birthday in Latin: Bonum diem natalem!
(There are other options as well.)
It just occurred to me that I do not recall coming across any ancient birthday congratulations.
Do ...
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Addressing a superior in Latin
Apologies if this is too basic, and feel free to delete, but I am curious to know how Romans would address a person of higher status - not a slave his/her master/mistress - but, for instance, a wage-...
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Saying "thank you"
I have only ever been taught one Latin translation for "thank you", and it is gratias agere (conjugated in a suitable way).
I just checked in L&S that this is indeed an attested use of gratia, ...
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Ars gratia artis
I would like to know the meaning of the following Latin expression, as well as a grammatical analysis of the individual words in this context:
ARS GRATIA ARTIS
as it appears in the following logo ...
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How to translate "Ceteris Paribus"?
I'm studying economics, and the words ceteris paribus are often used. I know it means that one thing changes, but that the other factors stay the same.
I was trying to figure out the translation ...
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How to speak a language with a third declension adjective?
Most Latin adjectives related to names of countries and languages are of first and second declension: Latinus, Graecus, Anglicus…
If I want to express that I speak in any such language, I will ...
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How does one say "the will to live" in Latin?
Obviously, I don't trust Google translate, or I wouldn't be here.
Just to clarify:
By "The will", I mean "a deliberate or fixed desire or intention".
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Wordplay with "Vox Populi" (populus, m vs. populus, f)
Say I want to mock up the idiom "Vox Populi" using not "populus" (m, people) but "populus" (f, poplar tree). Meaning something like "the sound of the poplar leaves rustling".
Do I have a way to ...
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"All the more so"
How, in classical Latin, did one say "all the more so" or otherwise indicate that a proposition harder than you're trying to prove has just been
proven, so your proposition must be at least ...
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French and Latin "s'il te/vous plaît"
The phrases si tibi placet and si vobis placet can be found in Latin literature, but they are not particularly common.
At least superficially they correspond to the French "s'il te plaît" and "s'il ...
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Latin for "In war and in peace"
I remember reading long ago a pithy Latin expression for “in war and peace,” or “in war as in peace,” or something to that effect. The idea is that one might say, for example, that a certain truth ...
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How do I express total surprise or perplexity when asking a question?
Are there conventional expressions in Latin to strengthen the question, showing total surprise or perplexity? How do you say, for example, "What the heck...?" or "Why on earth...?" in Latin?
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Hogwarts Motto from J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" series
Hogwarts, the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the Harry Potter books, has the following Latin motto: Draco dormiens numquam titillandus.
Most online sources translate this as "Never tickle a ...
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How to express a time exactly on the hour?
I would like to express the following times in Latin:
"at four o'clock sharp"
"every hour, on the hour"
I want to emphasize that the event takes place exactly on the hour.
My dictionaries do not ...
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What is touché in Latin?
What would be a good translation of "touché" from English to Latin?
Translating the French participle gives tactus, but I doubt that will convey the same idea.
Is there an idiomatic Latin expression ...
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Is there a Latin euphemism for going to the toilet?
In some situations it might be considered vulgar or lower style to say "I have to go to the toilet".
In English there are many ways around this: you can call the toilet something finer (bathroom, ...
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How would one say "Pardon me," in the sense of not understanding or hearing, in Classical Latin?
Especially when speaking a second language, I am forced to frequently say something like "Pardon me?" or "What was that?" or "Excuse me?" when I fail to understand or hear what a speaker says. I'd ...
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Origin of "seize the day" as a translation of Horace's carpe diem
Even many people who have never studied Latin know the phrase carpe diem (from Horace's Odes 1.11), and can tell you that it means "seize the day". But "seize" is not a very close translation of ...
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How to say "it's a question of" or "it's all about"?
How can I express something like the following sentences in Latin?
Being a teacher is simple; it's a question of discipline.
I don't care if I win or not; it's all about surviving.
I can offer some ...
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Is there any database on idiomatic expressions in Latin?
It is often said that one has an excellent command of a language when one is able to use it in an idiomatic way, which typically involves making use of Idioms and Collocations, i.a. There are many ...
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Are there Latin words for hair color?
English words like "brunette", "blonde", and "redhead" refer to people of a particular hair color.
Are there similar words in Latin?
It is easy to express hair color in English or Latin with several ...
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Double meaning Ex pluribus unum
Ex pluribus unum means (simplified) "From many, one", in the sense that many parts build one whole. Can I also use the phrase in the sense that from many possible solutions or things only one (the ...
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"Without further ado"
Suppose I have invited some friends for dinner and I want to say something before we eat.
But I don't want to give a long speech.
If I do this in English, I might start my last sentence with "without ...
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Why *In medias res* and not *In media res*?
Wikipedia gives literal translation as: Into the middle of things.
As far as I am aware into – in takes accusative.
Plural accusative of medium seems to be media, not medias
Even if I am ...
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