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Group 67: Latin

891. Ne quid falsi.

892. Ne quid nimis.

893. Ne nimium.

894. Ne bis in idem.

895. Ne plus ultra.

896. Ne ignem ad ignem.

897. Ne capra contra leonem.

898. Ne supra crepidam sutor.

899. Ne prius antidotum quam venenum.

900. Mendico ne parentes quidem amici sunt.

901. Ne Hercules quidem adversus duos.

902. Ne gutta quidem.

903. Ne vestigium quidem.

904. Ne in somnio quidem.

905. Ne crepitu quidem digiti dignum.

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Study Guide

891. Not anything false. (In other words: Say nothing false. Note the use of the partitive genitive, falsi with quid, standing for aliquid after ne. A fuller form of the phrase is Ne quid falsi dicere audeat, ne quid veri dicere non audeat, "Let him dare to say nothing false, let him not fail to say anything true," as adapted from Cicero and his definition of the first law of history.)

892. Not to excess. (In other words, do nothing to excess. Note the use of quid in place of aliquid following ne.)

893. Not too much. (In other words, do nothing too much.)

894. Not twice for the same thing. (This is a saying from the Roman legal tradition that a person cannot be prosecuted twice for the same crime.)

895. Not more beyond this. (In other words: this is the limit; do not go any further beyong this.)

896. Don't add fire to fire. (In Latin, the verb is implied, but not expressed. English needs a verb stated explicitly.)

897. The goat should not go against the lion. (The Latin has only an implied verb, but the English needs a verb. You can find this phrase in Erasmus's Adagia, 2.4.79. A fuller form of the Latin does contain a verb: Ne capra contra leonem pugnet, "The goat should not fight against a lion." Compare the wise goat in a fable by Avianus who knows better than to get near a lion, even one that seems harmless.)

898. Let the shoemaker not go beyond his shoe. (This is the equivalent of the English saying: "let the cobbler stick to his last." A fuller form of the Latin, from Pliny, is ne supra crepidam sutor iudicaret, "the cobbler should not just more than the shoe." The varient saying ultra crepidam has given rise to the bizarre English word ultracrepidarian, referring to someone who gives opinions on things he knows nothing about.)

899. Don't give the antidote before the poison. (The Latin has only an implied verb, but the English needs a verb. A fuller form of the saying in Latin is Prius antidotum quam venenum adhibes, "you're applying the antidote before the poison.")

900. Even his parents are not friendly to the man in want. (Nothing the way that the word parentes is inserted inside the phrase ne...quidem. You can find this saying in Erasmus's Adagia, 4.2.51.)

901. Not even Hercules fights against two opponents. (The Latin phrase has only an implied verb, but English needs a stated verb. Nothing the way that the word Hercules is inserted inside the phrase ne...quidem. You can find this saying in Erasmus's Adagia, 1.5.39.)

902. Not even a drop. (Nothing the way that the word gutta is inserted inside the phrase ne...quidem. The idea is that there is nothing, not so much as a drop, of something.)

903. Not even a trace. (Nothing the way that the word vestigium is inserted inside the phrase ne...quidem. You can find this idiom in various Latin authors, such as Cicero: ne vestigium quidem ullum est reliquum nobis dignitatis, "not even a trace is left to us of our dignity.")

904. Not even in a dream. (Nothing the way that the phrase in somnio is inserted inside the phrase ne...quidem. You can see that the prepositional phrase is basically regarded as a "word" in Latin, as the entire phrase is inserted here between ne and quidem.)

905. Not worth even the snap of a finger. (Nothing the way that the word crepitu is inserted inside the phrase ne...quidem. You can find this idiom in Erasmus's Adagia, 4.7.17.)