Weekly Response 4

Levester­­ Williams

ADP III: Technology and Environment

October 3, 2009

Milk It, Baby!

Fragments of nature have been imbued within our speech in the form of idiomatic expressions. Each expression has its own connotation and denotation within our culture by designating each expression to fit a particular situation in our lives. Within the realm of nature, we express ourselves clearly. The idiomatic expressions that I chose are sub rosa, which is Latin for “under the rose,” and cum grano salis, which is Latin for “with a grain of salt."

The Latin idiom sub rosa means confidentiality in our terms. Before I researched its origin, I thought this phrase was place in a context where corruption could be found. Since roses have thorns under the petals, I falsely conceived that “under the rose” specifically meant to keep a corrupted act a secret. In great literature such as classics by William Shakespeare’s Hamlet where Denmark is stated to be “an unweeded garden / That grows to seed” (Shakespeare 11), thorns are associated with corruption.

Actually, in Egypt, the rose is the emblem that is associated with the ancient Egyptian god Horus, the god of silence. The Greeks adopted the Egyptian god and called him Harpocrates. With a misinterpretation of the posture of the god’s statue, the Greeks incorporated the expression “sub rosa” to correspond to the statue holding its one finger up to its lips, as if to declare “secrecy”, but in actuality it is sucking its finger. Therefore, the Greeks incorporate it into their mythology by exclaiming that Cupid, the son of Aphrodite, gives a rose to Harpocrates as gratitude for upholding a secret from Aphrodite. The roses adorn the ceilings of the forum of the Greek council’s rendezvous and discuss in “secrecy.” Also, in the Roman banquet, roses adorned the ceilings as to apprise all that what is spoken sub wino, Latin for “under the [influence of] wine,” is sub rosa (“SubRosa”). The meaning of sub rosa has not been changed over time.

The Latin idiom cum grano salis means to accept things while being alert of its genuineness, “to take [something] with a grain of salt.” However, this expression is transmuted over the ages since it original context is actually to take salt to facilitate the consumption of something. I speculated that this phrase derives from Colonial times where blacks were slaves. I assumed they added much salt to their food since whites gave only the “detestable” parts of an animal to the slaves; therefore, slaves heavily salted the meat being skeptical about it taste. In actuality, the phrase originally derives from Pliny’s Natural Historia where a grain of salt is added to a recipe to consume the antidote to negate the effects of all poison. The meaning of cum grano salis probably changed since our culinary aspect has changed dramatically. Our variety of food has changed since we are in a country where new food items are being introduced. Being a preservative and having the ability to brng forth taste, salt add much favor to a bland food. Therefore, people may be skeptical about eating a food, so they might add a “grain of salt” due to skepticism, not facilitation as in its origin ("Take").

Works Cited

"SubRosa Magick - Origin of Sub Rosa." SubRosa Magick - Join Us Under the rose! Web. 04 Oct. 2009. .

"Take with a grain of salt." The meanings and origins of sayings and phrases http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/take-with-a-grain-of-salt.html. Web. 04 Oct. 2009. .

William, Shakespeare,. Hamlet. New York: Dover Publications, 1992. Print.

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