{"id":9116,"date":"2016-06-02T07:35:16","date_gmt":"2016-06-02T07:35:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/?p=9116"},"modified":"2016-06-02T15:02:02","modified_gmt":"2016-06-02T15:02:02","slug":"bread-and-circuses-russian-sayings-of-latin-origin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/bread-and-circuses-russian-sayings-of-latin-origin\/","title":{"rendered":"Bread and Circuses: Russian Sayings of Latin Origin"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Image from Pexels<\/p><\/div>\n

The influence of Latin<\/a> on science, philosophy, medicine, and theology cannot be overstated. One part of its legacy consists of popular sayings we use to this day, albeit sometimes in translation. This is true for both English and Russian (and I imagine, many other languages), so in this post we will look at some phrases of Latin origin every Russian speaker is likely to recognize. Please note that I am not a specialist in Latin, but do visit our Latin blog<\/a> for more information!<\/p>\n

Bread and circuses<\/h2>\n

This famous saying comes from the Latin saying “panem et circenses” referring to the preference given by the masses to everyday needs and simple pleasures over long-term concerns. The Russian equivalent is\u00a0\u0445\u043b\u0435<\/span>\u0431\u0430 \u0438 \u0437\u0440\u0435<\/span>\u043b\u0438\u0449<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The two components are \u0445\u043b\u0435\u0431 (bread) and \u0437\u0440\u0435<\/span>\u043b\u0438\u0449\u0430 (spectacles, singular \u0437\u0440\u0435<\/span>\u043b\u0438\u0449\u0435). As you notice, Russian does not translate the “circus” part as a literal \u0446\u0438\u0440\u043a — the circus with animals and clowns — but captures the entertainment aspect of it.<\/p>\n

Now, what’s the weird form used for \u0445\u043b\u0435\u0431 and \u0437\u0440\u0435\u043b\u0438\u0449\u0430? The Latin uses the accusative\/direct object case due to the fact that “(people demand) bread and circuses.” In the Russian, however, we have mass nouns, for which we must use the genitive partitive<\/a> to say that they want “some bread and some spectacles.”<\/p>\n

\u00ab\u041c\u0435\u0440\u0441\u0435\u0434\u0435<\/span>\u0441-\u0431\u0435\u043d\u0446\u00bb. \u0411\u043e<\/span>\u043b\u044c\u0448\u0435 \u043d\u0438\u0447\u0435\u0433\u043e<\/span> \u0447\u0435\u043b\u043e\u0432\u0435<\/span>\u043a\u0443 \u043d\u0435 \u043d\u0430<\/span>\u0434\u043e, \u043d\u0435 \u043f\u0440\u0435\u0434\u043b\u0430\u0433\u0430<\/span>\u0439\u0442\u0435 \u0435\u043c\u0443<\/span> \u043d\u0438\u0447\u0435\u0433\u043e<\/span> \u0431\u043e<\/span>\u043b\u044c\u0448\u0435. \u0411\u0435\u0437 \u043d\u0430<\/span>\u0434\u043e\u0431\u043d\u043e\u0441\u0442\u0438. \u0422\u043e<\/span>\u043b\u044c\u043a\u043e \u0445\u043b\u0435<\/span>\u0431\u0430 \u0438 \u0437\u0440\u0435<\/span>\u043b\u0438\u0449! (A Mercedes Benz. There’s nothing else a person needs; don’t offer them anything else. There’s no need. Bread and circuses only!) [\u0421\u0432\u0435\u0442\u043b\u0430\u043d\u0430 \u0410\u043b\u0435\u043a\u0441\u0438\u0435\u0432\u0438\u0447. \u0412\u0440\u0435\u043c\u044f second-hand \/\/ \u00ab\u0414\u0440\u0443\u0436\u0431\u0430 \u043d\u0430\u0440\u043e\u0434\u043e\u0432\u00bb, 2013] –\u00a0<\/em>to learn more about the Nobel-prize-winning author, check out our previous blog post<\/a>!<\/p>\n

Vox populi vox Dei<\/h2>\n

This Latin phrase literally means, “the voice of the people is the voice of God.” As I found out, “vox pop<\/a>” in English refers to the “man on the street” interview with a passer-by. Not so in Russian, where the translation of the phrase, \u0433\u043b\u0430\u0441 \u043d\u0430\u0440\u043e<\/span>\u0434\u0430\u00a0\u2014 \u0433\u043b\u0430\u0441 \u0411\u043e<\/span>\u0436\u0438\u0439\u00a0<\/strong>is used to assert the opinion of the masses or majority as the one that should be followed.<\/p>\n

\u0413\u043b\u0430\u0441 is the higher-register equivalent of \u0433\u043e\u043b\u043e\u0441, voice. As you may remember, these equivalents came from Old Church Slavonic and came to refer to the more noble things. \u041d\u0430\u0440\u043e\u0434 (singular) is people, and \u0411\u043e\u0436\u0438\u0439 is the posessive adjective for \u0411\u043e\u0433, God.<\/p>\n

\u0410 \u0432\u043e-\u0432\u0442\u043e\u0440\u044b<\/span>\u0445, \u0432\u0441\u044f<\/span>\u043a\u043e\u043c\u0443 \u0441\u0432\u0435<\/span>\u0434\u0443\u0449\u0435\u043c\u0443 \u0438 \u0443<\/span>\u043c\u043d\u043e\u043c\u0443 \u0447\u0435\u043b\u043e\u0432\u0435<\/span>\u043a\u0443, \u0435<\/span>\u0436\u0435\u043b\u0438 \u043e\u043d \u043e\u0434\u0438<\/span>\u043d, \u0441\u0432\u043e<\/span>\u0439\u0441\u0442\u0432\u0435\u043d\u043d\u043e \u0437\u0430\u0431\u043b\u0443\u0436\u0434\u0430<\/span>\u0442\u044c\u0441\u044f, \u0442\u043e\u0433\u0434\u0430<\/span> \u043a\u0430\u043a \u0434\u0435<\/span>\u0441\u044f\u0442\u044c, \u0434\u0432\u0430<\/span>\u0434\u0446\u0430\u0442\u044c \u0442\u044b<\/span>\u0441\u044f\u0447 \u043d\u0435\u0432\u0435<\/span>\u0436\u0434 \u0438\u043b\u0438 \u0433\u043b\u0443\u043f\u0446\u043e<\/span>\u0432, \u0441\u043e\u0448\u0435<\/span>\u0434\u0448\u0438\u0445\u0441\u044f \u0432\u043c\u0435<\/span>\u0441\u0442\u0435, \u043e\u0448\u0438\u0431\u0438<\/span>\u0442\u044c\u0441\u044f \u043d\u0435 \u043c\u043e<\/span>\u0433\u0443\u0442, \u0438\u0431\u043e \u0433\u043b\u0430\u0441 \u043d\u0430\u0440\u043e<\/span>\u0434\u0430 \u2015 \u0433\u043b\u0430\u0441 \u0411\u043e<\/span>\u0436\u0438\u0439. (Secondly, any knowledgeable and intelligent person, if they are alone, is prone to errors, while ten or twenty thousand ignorant or foolish people gathered in one place are presumed to be immune to errors since the voice of the people is the voice of God.) \u00a0[\u0414. \u0421. \u041c\u0435\u0440\u0435\u0436\u043a\u043e\u0432\u0441\u043a\u0438\u0439. \u0412\u043e\u0441\u043a\u0440\u0435\u0441\u0448\u0438\u0435 \u0411\u043e\u0433\u0438. \u041b\u0435\u043e\u043d\u0430\u0440\u0434\u043e \u0434\u0430 \u0412\u0438\u043d\u0447\u0438 (1901)]\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Business with Pleasure<\/h2>\n
\"woman

Image from Pexels<\/p><\/div>\n

“Utile dulci” is part of a larger quote by Horace<\/a>, where he praises writers who “join the useful with the agreeable.” The closest idiomatic equivalent I can think of in English is “to combine business with pleasure.” In Russian, the phrase is\u00a0\u0441\u043e\u0432\u043c\u0435\u0449\u0430<\/span>\u0442\u044c \u043f\u0440\u0438\u044f<\/span>\u0442\u043d\u043e\u0435 \u0441 \u043f\u043e\u043b\u0435<\/span>\u0437\u043d\u044b\u043c\u00a0<\/strong>(literally, “to combine the pleasant with the useful”) and is used to talk about adding pleasant elements to a work activity, or vice versa. Think of that trip to see the Statue of Liberty while in New York for business.<\/p>\n

\u0412\u043e \u0424\u043b\u043e\u0440\u0438<\/span>\u0434\u0435 \u043c\u043e<\/span>\u0436\u043d\u043e \u043f\u0440\u0435\u043a\u0440\u0430<\/span>\u0441\u043d\u043e \u0441\u043e\u0447\u0435\u0442\u0430<\/span>\u0442\u044c \u043f\u0440\u0438\u044f<\/span>\u0442\u043d\u043e\u0435 \u0441 \u043f\u043e\u043b\u0435<\/span>\u0437\u043d\u044b\u043c \u2015 \u043a\u043e\u043c\u0444\u043e<\/span>\u0440\u0442\u043d\u043e \u043e\u0442\u0434\u044b\u0445\u0430<\/span>\u0442\u044c \u0438 \u0441\u043e\u0432\u0435\u0440\u0448\u0435<\/span>\u043d\u0441\u0442\u0432\u043e\u0432\u0430\u0442\u044c \u0441\u0432\u043e\u0439 \u0430\u043d\u0433\u043b\u0438<\/span>\u0439\u0441\u043a\u0438\u0439 \u044f\u0437\u044b<\/span>\u043a. (You can easily combine business with pleasure in Florida — have a comfortable vacation and improve your English.) [\u0422\u0430\u0442\u044c\u044f\u043d\u0430 \u0411\u0443\u0440\u0436\u0438\u043d\u0441\u043a\u0430\u044f. \u0410\u043c\u0435\u0440\u0438\u043a\u0430 \u2015 \u0432\u0430\u0448 \u043f\u0443\u0442\u044c \u043a \u0443\u0441\u043f\u0435\u0445\u0443! (2001) \/\/ \u00ab\u0422\u0443\u0440\u0438\u0437\u043c \u0438 \u043e\u0431\u0440\u0430\u0437\u043e\u0432\u0430\u043d\u0438\u0435\u00bb, 2001.03.15]<\/em><\/p>\n

Naturally, there are many, many more phrases of Latin origin, so should we keep this going? What are some of your favorites?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"woman

The influence of Latin on science, philosophy, medicine, and theology cannot be overstated. One part of its legacy consists of popular sayings we use to this day, albeit sometimes in translation. This is true for both English and Russian (and I imagine, many other languages), so in this post we will look at some phrases…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":9131,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[385714,99,1195],"class_list":["post-9116","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-language","tag-famous-sayings","tag-latin","tag-proverbs"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/113"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9116"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9116\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9137,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9116\/revisions\/9137"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}