§1.6.36qui vero talia libris complexi sunt, nomina sua ipsi inscripserunt; ingenioseque visus est Gavius caelibes dicere veluti caelites, quod onere gravissimo vacent, idque Graeco argumento iuvit, ἠϊθέους enim eadem de causa dici affirmat.
But those who have compiled such things in books have inscribed their own names on them; and Gavius seemed to have spoken ingeniously when he said that the unmarried are like the inhabitants of heaven, because they are free from a most heavy burden, and he supported this with a Greek argument, for he asserts that unmarried youths are so called for the same reason.
nec ei cedit Modestus inventione, nam, quia caelo Saturnus genitalia absciderit, hoc nomine appellatos, qui uxore careant, ait; Aelius pituitam, quia petat vitam.
Nor does Modestus yield to him in invention; for he says that those who lack a wife are called by this name because Saturn cut off his genitals in heaven; Aelius says phlegm is so called because it attacks life.
§1.6.37sed cui non post Varronem sit venia, qui agrum, quia in eo agatur aliquid, et graculos, quia gregatim volent, dictos Ciceroni persuadere voluit (ad eum enim scribit), cum alterum ex Graeco sit manifestum duci, alterum ex vocibus avium?
But who would not be pardoned after Varro, who wished to persuade Cicero (for he writes to him) that 'field' is so called because something is done in it, and 'jackdaws' because they fly in flocks, when it is manifest that the one is derived from the Greek, and the other from the cries of birds?
§1.6.38sed hoc tanti fuit vertere, ut merula, quia sola volat, quasi mera volans nominaretur.
But it was of such importance to alter these, that the blackbird, because it flies alone, was named as if it were flying pure.
quidam non dubitaverunt etymologine subiicere omnem nominis causam: ut ex habitu, quemadmodum dixi, Longos et Rufos, ex sono strepere, murmurare; etiam derivata, ut a uelocitate dicitur velox, et composita pluraque his similia, quae sine dubio aliunde originem ducunt, sed arte non egent, cuius in hoc opere non est usus nisi in dubiis.
Some did not hesitate to subject every cause of a name to etymology: as from physical appearance, as I have said, 'Long' and 'Red', from sound 'to make a noise', 'to murmur'; also derivatives, as 'swift' is so called from 'swiftness', and compounds and many things similar to these, which without doubt derive their origin from elsewhere, but do not stand in need of art, of which there is no use in this work except in doubtful cases.
§1.6.39verba a vetustate repetita non solum magnos assertores habent sed etiam adferunt orationi maiestatem aliquam non sine delectatione; nam et auctoritatem antiquitatis habent et, quia intermissa sunt, gratiam novitati similem parant.
Words revived from antiquity not only have great champions, but also bring a certain majesty to speech, not without pleasure; for they both possess the authority of antiquity and, because they have been discontinued, provide a grace similar to novelty.
§1.6.40sed opus est modo, ut neque crebra sint haec neque manifesta, quia nihil est odiosius adfectatione, nec utique ab ultimis et iam oblitteratis repetita temporibus, qualia sunt topper et antegerio et exanclare et prosapia et Saliorum carmina vix sacerdotibus suis satis intellecta.
But it is necessary only that these be neither frequent nor obvious, because nothing is more offensive than affectation, nor by any means revived from the most remote and already forgotten times, such as 'topper', 'antegerio', 'exanclare', 'prosapia', and the hymns of the Salii, scarcely understood by their own priests.
§1.6.41sed illa mutari vetat religio et consecratis utendum est; oratio vero, cuius summa virtus est perspicuitas, quam sit vitiosa, si egeat interprete? ergo, ut novorum optima erunt maxime vetera, ita veterum maxime nova.
But religion forbids those to be altered, and we must use what has been consecrated; yet as for speech, whose chief virtue is perspicuity, how faulty must it be if it stands in need of an interpreter? Therefore, just as the best of new words will be those that are oldest, so the best of old words will be those that are newest.
§1.6.42similis circa auctoritatem ratio.
A similar reasoning applies to authority.
nam etiamsi potest videri nihil peccare, qui utitur iis verbis, quae summi auctores tradiderunt, multum tamen refert non solum, quid dixerint, sed etiam quid persuaserint.
For even if he who uses those words which the highest authors have handed down may seem to commit no fault, yet it matters much not only what they said, but also what they succeeded in recommending.
neque enim tuburchinabundum et lurchinabundum iam in nobis quisquam ferat, licet Cato sit auctor, nec hos lodices, quanquam id Pollioni placet, nec gladiola, atqui Messala dixit, nec parricidatum, quod in Caelio vix tolerabile videtur, nec collos mihi Calvus persuaserit; quae nec ipsi iam dicerent.
For indeed no one among us would now tolerate 'tuburchinabundum' or 'lurchinabundum', though Cato be the authority, nor 'hos lodices', although that pleases Pollio, nor 'gladiola', even though Messala said it, nor 'parricidatum', which seems scarcely tolerable in Caelius, nor will Calvus persuade me to use 'collos'; words which they themselves would not say now.
§1.6.43superest igitur consuetudo; nam fuerit paene ridiculum malle sermonem, quo locuti sint homines, quam quo loquantur.
Therefore, custom remains; for it would be almost ridiculous to prefer the language which men have spoken to that which they speak.
et sane quid est aliud vetus sermo quam vetus loquendi consuetudo? sed huic ipsi necessarium est iudicium, constituendumque in primis id ipsum quid sit, quod consuetudinem vocemus.
And indeed, what else is old speech than an old custom of speaking? But judgment is necessary for this itself, and we must first of all establish what that very thing is which we call custom.
§1.6.44quae si ex eo, quod plures faciunt, nomen accipiat, periculosissimum dabit praeceptum, non orationi modo sed (quod maius est) vitae.
And if this custom should take its name from what the majority do, it will give a most dangerous precept, not only to speech but (what is greater) to life.
unde enim tantum boni, ut pluribus quae recta sunt placeant? igitur ut velli et comam in gradus frangere et in balneis perpotare, quamlibet haec invaserint civitatem, non erit consuetudo, quia nihil horum caret reprehensione; at lavamur et tondemur et convivimus ex consuetudine: sic in loquendo, non si quid vitiose multis insederit, pro regula sermonis accipiendum erit.
For whence should arise so great a good that what is right should please the majority? Therefore, just as plucking out hairs, and curling the hair into tiers, and drinking to excess in the baths, however much these may have invaded the city, will not be custom, because none of these is free from blame—whereas we wash, and have our hair cut, and dine together in accordance with custom—so in speaking, if any faulty practice has settled upon many, it must not be accepted as a rule of language.
§1.6.45nam, ut transeam, quemadmodum vulgo imperiti loquantur, tota saepe theatra et omnem circi turbam exclamasse barbare scimus.
For, to pass over how the unlearned vulgar speak, we know that entire theatres and the whole crowd of the circus have often cried out in a barbarous manner.
ergo consuetudinem sermonis vocabo consensum eruditorum, sicut vivendi consensum bonorum.
Therefore, I shall call the custom of speech the consensus of the learned, just as I call the consensus of the good the custom of living.