Proverbs/Grammar ~ Grammar/Proverbs: Latin Lesson #114: Finishing Up Week 27

The focus for today's lesson is a review of prepositions with the 2nd declension, both ablative (-o ending) and accusative (-um ending). So, as you read through the sayings today, keep an eye out for which prepositions are taking the accusative and which ones are taking the ablative.

Then after you finish this little review, it will be time for the ablative ending of the 3rd declension next week!

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

And here are today's proverbs:

1. In vino feritas.
In wine, ferocity.
In vino FE-ritas.

The word vino is the ablative form of the noun vinum, which you have seen before. The preposition in takes the ablative case here: in vino.
The noun feritas means "ferocity," and you can also see this same root in English "feral" and "fierce."

The saying is a play on the traditional form of a saying you have seen before: In vino veritas. The proverb scholar Wolfgang Mieder calls these types of sayings "anti-proverbs."

2. Ab asino lanam.
(Seeking) wool from (a) donkey.
Ab A-sino lanam.

The word asino is the ablative form of the noun asinus, which you have seen before.
The noun lana means "wool," and you can see this root in English "lanolin."

This is one of those proverbial fool's errands: you are never going to get would from a donkey, no matter how hard you look. Compare the English saying "hen's teeth."

3. Reductio ad absurdum
Reduction to (the) absurd.
Re-DUC-tio ad ab-SUR-dum.

The word absurdum is the accusative form of the adjective absurdum, which gives us English "absurd."
The noun reductio gives us English "reduction." This is a 3rd-declension noun, nominative case, and it is the subject of the sentence.

We use this Latin phrase in English, and it has a Wikipedia article of its own: Apagogical argument.

4. Sera in fundo parsimonia
Saving (is) late at (the) bottom.
Sera in fundo parsi-MO-nia.

The word fundo is the ablative form of the noun fundus, "bottom," as in the bottom of the barrel (it's too late to spare the wine when you're at the bottom of the barrel), or the bottom of the money-chest (it's too late to practice economy when the money-chest is empty). You can see this root in English "fund" and "fundament."
You haven't seen the feminine adjective sera before, but you have seen the neuter form serum and the adverbial form sero.

5. Ad stagnum resilit, tenet etsi rana cathedram.
(A) frog jumps-back into (the) marsh, even-if it has a throne.
Ad stagnum resilit, tenet etsi rana cathedram.

The word stagnum is the accusative form of the noun stagnum, "swamp, marsh." You can see this root in English "stagnant." This word is in the accusative because of the preposition ad.

The word cathedram is the accusative form of the noun cathedra, which means "throne," specifically a bishop's throne, and it also refers to a "chair" in the sense of a professor's chair. You can see this root in English "cathedral." This word is in the accusative because it is the object of the verb tenet.

The verb resilit, "leaps back," gives us English "resilience."

The verb tenet, "holds, has," and gives us the English noun "tenet."

The word etsi is a compound: et-si, "even if." You've see the adverbial et before, which means "even, also" (instead of the usual conjunction "and"), and you've seen si, "if," so know you have the compound: etsi.

The noun rana means "frog," and the saying is making fun of some ridiculous, unworthy person (the "frog") who is appointed to the position of a bishop or a professor and then proceeds to embarrass himself. Notice how the word order puts rana right next to cathedram, emphasizing this comical juxtaposition!

Here's a recap: