Thursday, November 03, 2005
A Latin Proverb
I always enjoy the Latin Proverb of the Day feature at rogueclassicism. But one of the recent proverbs struck me as odd -- Tot capita, tot sententia [sic], translated as "There are as many opinion [sic] as there are heads!" The pronunciation guide (kwoht KAH-pih-tah, toht sehn-TEN-tee-ah) makes it clear that sententia is not a typo, but intentional. It is ungrammatical, however, even if you can find over a hundred hits on Google for Tot capita, tot sententia and Quot capita, tot sententia.
Henerik Kocher in his dictionary of Latin proverbs gives the following variants of this proverb:
Everyone has heard of the vulgar modern equivalent of this proverb: "Opinions are like assholes. Everyone has one." Or in Latin, Quot culi, tot sententiae ("There are as many opinions as there are assholes").
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Henerik Kocher in his dictionary of Latin proverbs gives the following variants of this proverb:
- Quot homines, tot sententiae. (Terence, Phormio 454)
- Quot capita, tot sententiae.
- Tot capita, tot sententiae.
Everyone has heard of the vulgar modern equivalent of this proverb: "Opinions are like assholes. Everyone has one." Or in Latin, Quot culi, tot sententiae ("There are as many opinions as there are assholes").
