Proverbs/Grammar ~ Grammar/Proverbs: Latin Lesson #110: More Ablatives in -o

The focus for today's lesson is more practice with the Ablative ending, -o, for those 2nd-declension nouns and adjectives with prepositions, so to get started, take a quick look at the ablatives you learned yesterday; I've underlined the prepositional phrase in each one:

In vino veritas.
Ex humo homo.
Ab ovo Ledae incipit.
Vox clamantis in deserto.
Ex pravo pullus bonus ovo non venit ullus.

And here is a little slideshow (with cats) of the words you have seen before:

So, here are today's proverbs:

1. Ex parvo satis.
From (a) little, enough.
ex parvo satis.

The word parvo is the ablative form of the adjective parvum, which is being used here substantively as a noun, "(a) little (thing)." You haven't seen parvum before, but you've seen the masculine and feminine forms of this adjective: parvum and parva.

The idea is that even if you have just a little, that can be enough. Compare the English saying, "want what you have, and you'll have what you want." You've also seen a similar Latin saying before: Si satis est, multum est.

2. Ex vitulo bos fit.
(The) ox is-made from (a) calf.
ex VI-tulo bos fit.

The word vitulo is the ablative form of the noun vitulus, which means "calf," and it's also the origin of English "veal."

Compare this English saying: "Mighty oaks from little acorns grow." So, when you look at an oak, remember that it started as a little acorn, and when you look at the ox, remember that he began as a calf.

3. Pullus de nido avolat.
(The) chick flies-away from (the) nest.
pullus de nido A-volat.

The word nido is the ablative form of the noun nidus, which you have seen before.

The verb avolat is a compound, a-volat, "away-flies, flies away." You haven't seen avolat before, but you've seen the verb volat before.

This saying is included in Polydorus's Adagia (Erasmus's less famous rival), adapted from the Biblical Book of Isaiah, referring to the hesitant and timid flight of chicks as they leave the nest, barely able to fly on their own.

4. Sub pallio sordido sapientia.
(There is) wisdom under (a) filthy cloak.
sub PAL-lio SOR-dido sapi-EN-tia.

The word pallio is the ablative form of the noun pallium, which is the origin of English "pall" and also of "palliative."

The word sordido is the ablative form of the adjective sordidum, which gives us English "sordid."

The ablative noun phrase, pallio sordido, is in the ablative with the preposition, sub, "under," which you can see in all those English sub- compounds, like "submarine" and "subterranean."

Compare the English saying, "You can't judge a book by its cover."

5. De calceo sollicitus, at pedem nihil curans.
Worried about (the) shoe, but caring nothing (for the) foot.
de CAL-ceo sol-LI-citus, at pedem nihil curans.

This saying might look intimidating because it is so long, but you know all of the words except two already!
The word calceo is the ablative form of the noun calceus, which gives us this very obscure English word "discalceate," which means: "barefoot" (un-shoed).
The adjective sollicitus, "concerned, anxious," gives us English "solicitous."

The idea is that someone would be very foolish is all they did was think about their shoes but neglected their feet.

Here's a recap: