Latin Proverbs, Mottoes, Phrases, and Words: Group P

With thumb turned.

Currently "thumbs down" is believed to be the signal by which spectators condemned a vanquished gladiator to death.

The Roman custom of spectators' voting on the fate of wounded gladiators with their "thumbs up" did not mean that the downed gladiator was to be spared. In fact, it meant that the gladiator was to be killed.

Thumbs down signified "swords down" and meant that the loser was worth more to them alive than dead, and he was spared to make up for his disgrace in the next contest.

Whenever a combatant was seriously wounded, the presiding judge, or "referee", was called upon to determine whether the man should live or die, depending on how well he fought.

The judge usually went along with the mood or desire of the spectators. If they cheered, applauded, and gave the thumbs-down and indicated that they liked the man, he was carted off to fight another time.

If they gave him the silent thumbs-up treatment, his opponent was given the signal to finish him off. The corpse was then dragged off with a hook.

The misconception of "thumbs up" and "thumbs down" probably the result of a painting?

Our misinterpretation of the thumbs-up and thumbs-down apparently came about because a French artist Léon Gérôme understood the Latin verso (turned) to mean "turned down" and so in his painting Pollice Verso(1873), he showed the death sentence with the thumbs-down gesture.

Apparently the painting was so popular that Gérôme's mistake became the universally accepted interpretation as we know it today.

Adam's apple.

The voice "box" in the throat.

Bridge of donkeys [asses].

A test for beginners; problem that the slow-witted cannot solve. It is anything except a "bridge"; it is really pedica asinorum, the "dolt's stumbling block."

The chief or senior priest and head of the state religion of Rome; in this case, it is not a reference to the Roman Catholic Church but to classical Rome.

At first he was probably required to be a patrician, but by the middle Republic era he was more than likely to be a plebeian. He supervised all of the various members of the priestly colleges—augurs, pontifices, other minor priests, and the Vestal Virgins.

1. In common law, posse comitatus (Latin for "the power of the county") referred to the authority wielded by the county sheriff to conscript any able-bodied male over the age of fifteen to assist him in keeping the peace or to pursue and arrest a felon; compare hue and cry. It is the law enforcement equivalent of summoning the militia for military purposes.
2. The body of persons that a peace officer of a U.S. county is empowered to call upon for assistance in preserving the peace, making arrests, and serving writs.
3. The assembled group is called a posse for short.

The name Posse Comitatus means, “the Power of the County”, bringing to mind colorful images of the old west county sheriff swearing in a posse to pursue fleeing criminals.

The Act was born out of the extensive use of federal troops for law enforcement in the South following the Civil War. Congress, recognizing that the long-term use of the Army to enforce civilian laws posed a potential danger to the military’s subordination to civilian control, passed the Act.

The 1878 Posse Comitatus Act made it a crime for anyone to use the Army to enforce federal, state, or local civil laws.

They can because they think they can. -Vergil

After meals; after food.

Used in medical prescriptions as directions for proper consumption after meals.

After one is reduced to ashes, fame comes too late.

Too often fame comes after one's death.

After the [appointed or proper] day.

A term used in law.

After this, therefore because of this.

The logical fallacy that because one event follows another, the former must have caused the latter; or, the fallacy of arguing that something is the effect of a certain cause when there is no evidence of any connection.

After the middle of the day; after noon.

After death.

After birth.

Written after that which was previously written afterward.

That which is written after a previous post script as an additional after thought.