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Latin Language Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [idiom]

For questions concerning expressions, word-plays, symbolic language, metaphors and the likes.

This tag is primarily for questions on idiomatic language, such as metaphors, word-plays and expressions in the ancient languages, but it is also applicable for translating said from modern languages to ancient ones. Examples of such are ‘cum grānō salis’ (‘with a grain of salt’), ‘Caesar nōn suprā grammaticōs!’ (in English better in plural: ‘emperors are not above the grammarians’), ‘Hannibal ad portam/portās’ (originally something imminent and very dangerous, later also meaning something extremely urgent), or ‘vulpem pĭlum mūtat, nōn mōrēs’ (in English roughly the same as ‘the leopard never changes his spots’).

The goal of such a question labeled with this tag, is to understand not just the literal meaning of an idiom, but its semantically and/or idiomatically similar usage today (or the other way around).

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How did the Romans say "good night"?

There are a lot of different things in a lot of different languages that mean basically the same thing: Sleep well. English: Sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite Italiano: Buona notte, sogni d'oro Español: Sueña con los angelitos et…
anon
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Are there native tongue-twisters in Latin?

Many languages have well established "tongue-twisters" (phrases difficult to articulate). In my native Spanish, "classic" examples are Pedro Pablo Pinto Pérez Pereira, pobre pintor portugués, pinta paisajes por poca plata, para poder pasear por…
luchonacho
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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-labourer to an employer, a shopkeeper to a…
TheHonRose
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apud + place name vs. locative

What is the difference, if any, between using apud with the name of a town, and using the locative form of that name? Reading Suetonius Tiberius 40, I noticed this usage: statimque reuocante assidua obtestatione populo propter cladem, qua apud…
TKR
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He is known for...?

How would one best translate the English idiom "to be known for", as in "he is known for defeating the Gauls"? This came up when discussing uses of the gerund, but in English the idiom also works with a non-verbal noun, as in "he is known for his…
Draconis
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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 used with an infinitive, but (as per L&S) these uses…
TKR
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Latinism to say "everyone knows"

Is there a common phrase to say "everyone knows x"? I always thought it would be "x is vox populi", but the way I understand from Wikipedia is that vox populi has an opinion content to it.
Sergio
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Is there a Latin equivalent for "All talk but no action"?

There was a discussion about the phrase "Blowing your own trumpet" which according to some means same. But when translated to Latin idioms it steered more towards just being "too proud" or "praising oneself (too much)".
teemu
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Quem describit Petrarca?

In a letter dated May 30, 1342, Petrarch invites his friend Cardinal Johannes Columna to visit him in his mountain retreat of Vaucluse. In several places, I've come across English translations of one passage, like this by Morris Bishop, which are in…
Ben Kovitz
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How to respond to sneezing?

There is an idiomatic way to respond to someone sneezing in many languages, and Wikipedia has a list. Latin is not included. Is there a canonical Latin reaction to someone sneezing? Any era of Latin is fine. I could always use a translation from…
Joonas Ilmavirta
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In scholastic Latin, what do the terms "appellare" and "supponere personaliter" mean?

I am researching a humanist text, Johannes Matthaeus Phrissemius' preface to his edition of Rudolf Agricola's De inventione dialectica. In it, he contrasts the (in his opinion) useful topics contained in Agricola's work with the (again, in his…
Kingshorsey
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How to say "well done"?

Is there a Latin phrase similar to the English "well done!" to be used to congratulate someone for achieving something? Translating from English, one might expect bene factum! or bene fecisti! or something similar, or just a plain adverb (bene!,…
Joonas Ilmavirta
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A is for... Latin examples

Are there any ancient—or modern, if not—examples of a learner's alphabet that mirrors the modern "A is for..."? I'm not really looking for poetry that has an alphabet acrostic or any other playfulness, but specifically for a standard construction of…
cmw
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"From beyond the grave"

When someone does something after death — such as causing harm by their will — they can be said to act "from beyond the grave". Is there a similar idiom in Latin? Any era will do, although classical is preferred if there is a choice. It is not hard…
Joonas Ilmavirta
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Meaning of "vulgo voces"

Is "vulgo voces" an expression with a particular meaning? I have encountered it in an early 18th century text. The full text is: Equidem vulgo voces Thermometrum & Thermoscopium pro synonymis habentur. Nos tamen has voces sedulo distinguimus, ne…
igm2103
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