§8.2.1perspicuitas in verbis praecipuam habet proprietatem, sed proprietas ipsa non simpliciter accipitur.
Perspicuity in words has "propriety" as its chief requirement, but propriety itself is not understood in a simple sense.
primus enim intellectus est sua cuiusque rei appellatio, qua non semper utemur; nam et obscena vitabimus et sordida et humilia.
For the first meaning is the proper name of each thing, which we do not always use; for we shall avoid both obscene, sordid, and low words.
§8.2.2sunt autem humilia infra dignitatem rerum aut ordinis.
Now, low words are those below the dignity of the subjects or the rank.
in quo vitio cavendo non mediocriter errare quidam solent, qui omnia quae sunt in usu, etiamsi causae necessitas postulet, reformidant; ut ille, qui in actione Hibericas herbas, se solo nequiquam intelligente, dicebat, nisi irridens hanc vanitatem Cassius Severus spartum dicere eum velle indicasset. §8.2.3nec video quare clarus orator duratos muria pisces nitidius esse crediderit quam ipsum id quod vitabat.
In avoiding this fault, certain people are accustomed to err in no small degree, who dread all words in common use, even if the necessity of the case demands them; like that man who, in a pleading, spoke of "Iberian herbs"—with himself alone understanding it to no purpose—had not Cassius Severus, mocking this vanity, indicated that he wished to say "spartum." Nor do I see why a famous orator believed that "fish preserved in brine" was more elegant than the very thing he was avoiding.
In hac autem proprietatis specie, quae nominibus ipsis cuiusque rei utitur, nulla virtus est, at quod ei contrarium est, vitium.
But in this species of propriety, which uses the proper names of each thing, there is no merit, whereas its opposite is a fault.
id apud nos improprium, ἄκυρον apud Graecos vocatur, quale est, §8.2.4tantum sperare dolorem, aut, quod in oratione Dolabellae emendatum a Cicerone adnotavi, mortem ferre, aut, qualia nunc laudantur a quibusdam, quorum est, de cruce verba ceciderunt. non tamen quidquid non erit proprium, protinus et improprii vitio laborabit, quia primum omnium multa sunt et Graece et Latine non denominata.
This is called "improper" among us, and "akyron" among the Greeks, such as: "to hope for so much pain," or "to bring death"—which I noted as corrected by Cicero in the speech of Dolabella—or such expressions as are now praised by some, among whose works is "words fell from the cross." Yet not everything that is not proper will immediately suffer from the fault of the improper, because first of all, there are many things unnamed both in Greek and in Latin.
§8.2.5nam et, qui iaculum emittit, iaculari dicitur, qui pilam aut sudem, appellatione privatim sibi adsignata caret; et ut, lapidare quid sit, manifestum est, ita glebarum testarumque iactus non habet nomen.
For he who throws a javelin is said to "throw a javelin" (iaculari), but he who throws a ball or a stake lacks a name assigned specifically to himself; and just as it is obvious what "to pelt with stones" (lapidare) is, so the throwing of clods and potsherds has no name.
§8.2.6unde abusio, quae κατάχρησις dicitur, necessaria.
Hence, "misuse" (abusio), which is called katachresis, is necessary.
translatio quoque, in qua vel maximus est orationis ornatus, verba non suis rebus accommodat.
Metaphor (translatio) too, in which lies perhaps the greatest ornament of speech, adapts words to things not their own.
quare proprietas non ad nomen, sed ad vim significandi refertur nec auditu, sed intellectu perpendenda est.
Therefore, propriety is referred not to the word, but to the power of signifying, and is to be weighed not by the ear, but by the understanding.
§8.2.7secundo modo dicitur proprium inter plura, quae sunt eiusdem nominis, id unde cetera ducta sunt; ut vertex est contorta in se aqua vel quidquid aliud similiter vertitur, inde propter flexum capillorum pars summa capitis, ex hoc id quod in montibus eminentissimum.
In a second way, among several things which are of the same name, that from which the rest are derived is called "proper"; as "vertex" is water twisted in itself, or anything else that is turned in a similar way, thence on account of the curl of the hair it means the top of the head, and from this, that which is highest in mountains.
recte dixeris haec omnia vertices, proprie tamen unde initium est.
You would correctly call all these "vertices," yet properly it is that from which the beginning came.
§8.2.8sic soleae et turdi pisces et cetera.
Thus "soleae" (soles) and "turdi" (thrushes) as fish, and so forth.
tertius est huic diversus modus, cum res communis pluribus in uno aliquo habet nomen eximium, ut carmen funebre proprie nenia et tabernaculum ducis augurale. item, quod commune et aliis nomen intellectu alicui rei peculiariter tribuitur, ut urbem Romam accipimus et venales novicios et Corinthia aera, cum sint urbes aliae quoque et venalia multa et tam aurum et argentum quam aes Corinthium.
The third is a different mode from this, when a common thing among many has an eminent name in some one thing, as a funeral song is properly "nenia," and the general's tent "augurale." Likewise, when a name common also to other things is peculiarly assigned to some one thing by understanding, as we understand "the city" to mean Rome, "newly purchased slaves" to mean novicios, and "Corinthian metals" to mean Corinthian brass, though there are other cities too, and many things for sale, and gold and silver are Corinthian just as much as brass.
sed ne in his quidem virtus oratoris inspicitur.
But not even in these is the virtue of the orator perceived.
§8.2.9at illud iam non mediocriter probandum, quod hoc etiam laudari modo solet, ut proprie dictum, id est, quo nihil inveniri possit significantius: ut Cato dixit, C. Caesarem ad evertendam rem publicam sobrium accessisse; ut Virgilius deductum carmen, et Horatius acrem tibiam Hannibalemque dirum. §8.2.10in quo modo illud quoque est a quibusdam traditum proprii genus ex appositis (epitheta dicuntur): ut dulcis musti et cum dentibus albis. de quo genere alio loco dicendum est.
But that other thing is already to be approved in no small degree, which is also accustomed to be praised in this mode, as "properly spoken," that is, than which nothing more significant can be found: as Cato said that "Gaius Caesar approached to overthrow the state when sober"; as Virgil said "a spun-out song," and Horace "a shrill pipe" and "dread Hannibal." In which mode that kind of propriety from epithets (which are called apposita) is also handed down by some: as "of sweet must" and "with white teeth." About which kind we must speak in another place.
§8.2.11etiam quae bene translata sunt propria dici solent.
Also, those things which are well metaphored are accustomed to be called proper.
interim autem quae sunt in quoque praecipua proprii locum accipiunt, ut Fabius inter plures imperatorias virtutes cunctator est appellatus.
Meanwhile, however, those things which are principal in each thing take the place of the proper, as Fabius was called the "Cunctator" (Delayer) among several general-like virtues.
possunt videri verba, quae plus significant quam eloquuntur, in parte ponenda perspicuitatis; intellectum enim adiuvant.
Words which signify more than they speak out may seem to be placed in the department of perspicuity; for they assist the understanding.
ego tamen libentius emphasim retulerim ad ornatum orationis, quia non ut intelligatur efficit, sed ut plus intelligatur.
I, however, would more willingly refer "emphasis" to the ornament of speech, because it does not effect that something is understood, but that more is understood.
§8.2.12at obscuritas fit verbis iam ab usu remotis: ut si commentarios quis pontificum et vetustissima foedera et exoletos scrutatus auctores id ipsum petat ex his quae inde contraxerit, quod non intelliguntur.
But obscurity is caused by words already removed from common use: as if someone, having searched the commentaries of the pontiffs, the oldest treaties, and obsolete authors, should seek from those things he has gathered there the very fact that they are not understood.
hinc enim aliqui famam eruditionis adfectant, ut quaedam soli scire videantur.
For hence some affect a reputation for erudition, so that they may seem to be the only ones to know certain things.
§8.2.13fallunt etiam verba vel regionibus quibusdam magis familiaria vel artium propria, ut Atabulus ventus et navis saccaria et in malo cosanum.
Words also mislead which are more familiar either to certain regions or proper to arts, such as the wind "Atabulus," a "baggage-ship" (saccaria), and "cosanum" on a mast.
quae vel vitanda apud iudicem ignarum significationum earum vel interpretanda sunt, sicut in his, quae homonyma vocantur: ut, taurus animal sit an mons an signum in coelo an nomen hominis an radix arboris, nisi distinctum non intelligetur.
These must either be avoided before a judge ignorant of their meanings or explained, just as in those things which are called homonyms: as, whether "taurus" is an animal, or a mountain, or a sign in the heavens, or a man's name, or the root of a tree, will not be understood unless distinguished.