Idioms

[AoM]

hoc habet (Aen. 12.296)

L&S says it's gladiatorial terminology for a wounded fighter (i.e., "he's hit").

Though I guess it's more of a colloquialism.

 

[Cinefactus]

buxo pallidiora Ovid Met IV: 134-5
paler than boxwood

 

[Pacifica]

I'm not sure that's an idiom.

 

[Pacifica]

I'm also not sure what's so funny.

 

[Pacifica]

You're infuriating.

 

[Pacifica]

 

[Cinefactus]

I'm not sure that's an idiom.

The note in one of the books I have (Henry T Riley 1889) said that it went on to become an idiom. It does say some other things though that I am not convinced about.

 

[meisenimverbis]

The only one that comes to mind (always) is "lupus in fabula", I'm sure someone must have brought it already (sorry, I haven't read the 18 pages...). For some reason I like this one.

 

[AoM]

longe gentium (Fam. 12.22)

"at the end of the world"

 

[meisenimverbis]

cum isto gemino obtūtu (aspexi)
I saw [sth] with my own eyes
Metamorphoses (Apuleius), I, 4

Funny that in Portuguese, we have a saying "este é irmão deste" (this one is the brother of this other one), concerning the eyes, but the meaning is different, it means "I'm very aware of what is going on", in a sense that whatever is going on is not enough to deceive the person who says the saying.

Anyway, I guess it's expected to treat eyes as brothers, specially twins, in the case of the Latin idiom used by Apuleius...

 

[Pacifica]

The cum there seemed odd, but Apuleius sometimes uses odd constructions, so I checked, and he seems to be innocent here:

"isto gemino obtutu"site://thelatinlibrary.com - Google Search

No cum, other than the one in the previous word porticum, that is.

Moreover, I'd be wary of calling this phrase an idiom. What makes you think it's an idiom rather than an original phrase coined ad hoc by Apuleius (who, besides, is better known for idiosyncratic than for idiomatic writing)? It sounds a tad too poetic to be likely to be an idiom.

 

[meisenimverbis]

My bad! It was on the page before! Thanks, I'll fix that by editing.

 

[Pacifica]

I would say that the corresponding idiomatic expression to Apuleius's more original phrase is oculis meis / meis oculis vidi (or similar verb). This occurs in a few authors (including Apuleius!).

 

[Michael Zwingli]

Here is an expression from Plautus which I found to be somewhat idiomatic. Amphitruo, 2.1.1 (Amphytryon to Sosia): age ī tū secundum, meaning, in order of descending translational equivalence: "Do thou walk after/following (me)!", "Come, do follow after me!", or most colloquially "Come, follow me!" You wouldn't believe how long it took me to decipher the meaning of this little phrase! It is for this reason, though, that I find reading drama to particularly helpful in learning possible modes of expression...