Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Latin Proverbs: 136 Most Frequent Words

The DR number, Diederich Rank, refers to the highest number in Diederich's frequency listing, which you can see here: Diederich Ranking.

DR 131. Quid verba audiam, cum facta videam? ~ Note: This is included by André Rouillé in his anthology of Cicero's notable sententiae; these words come from the Tusculan Disputations, 3. The word "quid" here has the sense of "(for) what, why."

DR 133. Hominem quaero. ~ Note: This alludes to the famous quest of Diogenes, burning daylight, holding aloft his lamp and looking for a man, i.e. a real man - or, as it's often said in English, "an honest man." The story is sometimes told about Aesop, too; see a discussion here.

DR 133. Quaerite bonum et non malum. ~ Note: The words are from the Biblical book of Amos, 5.

DR 133. Omnes quae sua sunt, quaerunt. ~ Note: The words from the Paul's letter to the Philippians, 2. The saying is included by Polydorus in his Adagia, B368.

DR 133. Cui multum datum est, multum quaeretur ab eo. ~ Note: Note the future tense: quaeretur. This saying is included by Polydorus in his Adagia, B51; the words are from the Gospel of Luke, 12.

DR 135. Da et accipe. ~ Note: You can find these words in the Biblical book of Sirach (Ecclesiasticus): Da et accipe, et iustifica animam tuam.

DR 135. Da, si vis accipere. ~ Note: You can also find this saying with an "ut" clause: Da, ut accipias.

DR 135. Quod datur, accipe. ~ Note: As often, the antecedent of the relative pronoun is not expressed: (Hoc), quod datur, accipe.

DR 135. Dare Deo accipere est. ~ Note: This is the one of the sayings collected by the Renaissance scholar Andreas Eborensis (Andrea de Resende).

DR 136. Nulli malum pro malo. ~ Note: With the information provided by the cases - dative, accusative - it is possible to express this idea without a stated verb: To no one (return) evil for evil.

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