ne musca quidem olla reperta

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phil
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ne musca quidem olla reperta

Post by phil »

In a story, some chap has lost his jar, and suspects his neighbour. Tandem itum est ad illum; explōrātum an apud illum esset ōlla; nē musca quidem ōlla reperta.

Eventually, a journey was made to his house to see whether the jar was there; not even a mouse the jar was found. Eh? clearly I don't understand that phrase. Is it an idiom, or am I close to being one? The notes at the back say 'no sign was found...' which makes sense, but I can't get that from the actual words used.

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ptolemyauletes
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Re: ne musca quidem olla reperta

Post by ptolemyauletes »

musca is a fly, not a mouse...
could it be 'not even a fly was found, let alone a jar.'?
Another possibility is that olla the second time around could be ulla, as it is occasionally rendered with an o instead of a u, but this makes no sense.
The only thing we can guarantee when communicating via the internet is that we will be almost completely misunderstood, and likely cause great offence in doing so. Throw in an attempt at humour and you insure a lifelong enemy will be made.

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thesaurus
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Re: ne musca quidem olla reperta

Post by thesaurus »

ptolemyauletes wrote:musca is a fly, not a mouse...
could it be 'not even a fly was found, let alone a jar.'?
Yes, this is it. "Ne . . . quidem" means "not . . . even."
Horae quidem cedunt et dies et menses et anni, nec praeteritum tempus umquam revertitur nec quid sequatur sciri potest. Quod cuique temporis ad vivendum datur, eo debet esse contentus. --Cicero, De Senectute

phil
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Re: ne musca quidem olla reperta

Post by phil »

thanks for that. Yes fly, not mouse. I don't know how I got that wrong.

Cheers
Phil

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