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Group 8: Latin

95. Ex alieno prodigus.

96. Ex parvo satis.

97. Ex granis acervus.

98. Ex minimis initiis magna.

99. Ab imo ad summum.

100. Ab ovo usque ad mala.

101. A verbis ad verbera.

102. De limo in caelum.

103. De caelo in caenum.

104. In dubio pro reo.

105. Magnum in parvo.

106. Multum in parvo.

107. Maximus in minimis.

108. Mendacium semper in multiloquio.

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Study Guide

95. Prodigal with someone else's stuff. (The idea is that people are very generous when they are spending money out of someone else's purse.)

96. Enough from a little. (The idea is that it does not really take that much to be satisfied. You can see a delightful emblematic illustration of this proverb in the 1584 book, Emblematum Christianorum centuria Emblemes Chrestiens.)

97. A heap from grains. (In other words: adding grain by grain you end up with a big heap.)

98. Great things from the smallest beginnings. (This saying made its way into Erasmus's Adagia, 3.8.23.)

99. From the bottom to the top. (You can remember the Latin adjective summum but thinking of the English word "summit," which is the "top" of the mountain.)

100. From the egg all the way to the apples. (You can read a brief essay about this proverb at the AudioLatinProverbs.com blog.)

101. From words to blows. (Notice the lovely play on words in the Latin.)

102. From the muck into the sky. (This is for when someone's fortunes improve.)

103. From the sky into the filth. (This is for when someone's fortunes decline - radically!)

104. In a doubtful matter, in favor of the accused. (In other words: presumed innocent until proven, beyond a doubt, guilty.)

105. Something great in something small. (This is something like the English saying, "good things come in small packages.")

106. Much in little. (This refers to being able to say a lot, multum in something brief, parvo.)

107. The greatest in the littlest. (Notice that maximus is a masculine adjective, not neuter. The full form of this saying comes from Augustine: Deus magnus in magnis, maximus in minimis, "God is great in great things, greatest in the littlest things.")

108. In loquaciousness there is always a lie. (You can read a brief essay about this proverb at the AudioLatinProverbs.com blog.)