Romani, si quid mali loqui volebant, saepe dicebant: "Abi in malam rem."
The Romans, if they wanted to say something bad, often used to say: "Go to the devil."
2 questions; "something bad" and rem
where does the "something bad" come from?
I would translate this as "The romans, if anyone bad wanted to speak, ........."
how does mali become "something bad", (genitive or accusative plural, not accusative).
I can't get "the devil" from rem, unless the author wants to define malam rem as "a bad place",
but them I would use locus,-i for place, not rem.
I am thinking the literal translation is:
"The romans, if anyone bad wanted to speak, often said: "Go into bad affairs/things/properties."
is this correct, literally?
edits in bold red
The Romans, if they wanted to say something bad, often used to say: "Go to the devil."
2 questions; "something bad" and rem
where does the "something bad" come from?
I would translate this as "The romans, if anyone bad wanted to speak, ........."
how does mali become "something bad", (genitive or accusative plural, not accusative).
I can't get "the devil" from rem, unless the author wants to define malam rem as "a bad place",
but them I would use locus,-i for place, not rem.
I am thinking the literal translation is:
"The romans, if anyone bad wanted to speak, often said: "Go into bad affairs/things/properties."
is this correct, literally?
edits in bold red
Last edited: