Template:Random Latin fact/nobiscum

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Revision as of 00:24, 17 January 2023 by Jācōbus (talk | contribs) (Created page with "thumb|right|100px|Marcus Tullius Cicerō The Roman statesman Cicero had a folk etymological explanation for why we say "nobiscum" and not "cum nobis." {{Quote|Why don't we say ''cum nōbīs'', but rather nōbīscum? Because: If we say it the other way, the letters would run together in a rather obscene way.|Marcus Tullius Cicerō|Orātor ad Brūtum, § 154}} The joke is: ''cum nōb...")
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Marcus Tullius Cicerō

The Roman statesman Cicero had a folk etymological explanation for why we say "nobiscum" and not "cum nobis."

Why don't we say cum nōbīs, but rather nōbīscum? Because: If we say it the other way, the letters would run together in a rather obscene way.
—Marcus Tullius Cicerō, Orātor ad Brūtum, § 154

The joke is: cum nōbīs can easily be misunderstood as cunnō bīs which has a lewd meaning, that we are not going to explain here.