Proverbs/Grammar ~ Grammar/Proverbs: Latin Lesson #239: Sayings re: res

The focus for today's lesson is one of the most common 5th-declension nouns: res, which means "thing, matter, affair, business," etc. You get the idea: it has a lot of meanings!

You probably have used this Latin word without knowing it, because every time you type "re:" in a memo, you are saying re, the ablative form of res: "in the matter of." Many people think the "re" is short for "regarding," but it really is the ablative form of res.

In today's sayings, you will see res in the nominative form as the subject of a verb, also the ablative form, re, and the accusative form: rem.

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

And here are today's proverbs:

1. In verbo suavis, in re gravis.
Gentle in speech, serious in action.
In verbo suavis, in re gravis.

This saying features re, the ablative form of res, with the preposition in.

Likewise verbo, which is the ablative form of verbum.

There are many sayings that mark the contrast between words and actions, and between speaking and doing. Here the contrast is between speaking gently and sweetly, but acting in a stern and serious way.
The rhyme suavis - gravis marks this as a medieval Latin saying.

2. Rem factam etiam stultus intellegit.
Even a-fool understands a-thing (after it's been) done.
Rem factam etiam stultus in-TEL-legit.

Here you have rem, the accusative form of res, as the object of the verb. The adjective factam is also feminine accusative, agreeing with rem. You haven't seen this form before, but you know the neuter form: factum.

The idea is that a wise person can foresee things in advance, but even a fool, etiam stultus, can understand something after it has already happened. Compare the English saying "20/20 hindsight."

3. Mortua res Venus sine Baccho et Cerere.
Venus (is) a dead business without Bacchus and Ceres.
MOR-tua res Venus sine Baccho et CE-rere.

This saying features res, as the nominative subject of the verb. Because res is a feminine noun, it takes a feminine adjective: mortua. You haven't seen this feminine form of the adjective before, but you know the masculine form: mortuus.

Here the gods stand for their domains: Venus is love, Bacchus is wine, and Ceres is bread.

The saying is adapted from the Roman playwright Terence; you can find out more at Wikipedia. This particular version comes from Erasmus's Adagia.

4. Res est admodum fragilis humanum corpus.
The-human body is (a) very fragile thing.
Res est AD-modum FRA-gilis hu-MA-num corpus.

Here you have res once again in the nominative as the subject of verb, and it is modified by the adjective fragilis, "fragile, delicate, liable to break," which is also feminine (although harder to recognize right away as feminine because it is a 3rd-declension adjective, unlike mortua in the previous saying). From Latin fragilis we get both "fragile" and "frail."

The word admodum is an adverb, meaning "very, completely."

5. Res bene parta manet; res male parta perit.
A-thing well begotten lasts; a-thing badly begotten perishes.
Res bene parta manet; res male parta perit.

The nominative res appears twice here, as the subject of two contrasting verbs: manet and perit.

Just as the verbs are opposite in meaning, so are the adjectival phrases: bene parta, "well begotten" and male parta "badly begotten."

The adjective parta is a participle from a verb you have seen before: parit, "give birth." So, it literally refers to things that are "born," but also in general to things as they are "begotten, created, made," etc.

Here's a recap: