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Previous Thread Next Thread Print Thread "Give them bread and circuses" #33591 06/26/2001 1:03 AM Joined: Jun 2001 Posts: 9 2YsUR stranger 2YsUR stranger Joined: Jun 2001 Posts: 9 I’m trying to find the origin of the quote “Give them bread and circuses”. It was mentioned to me in relation to reality TV, but I’d like to find its original context (apart from the obvious Marie Antoinette) Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: "Give them bread and circuses" #33592 06/26/2001 1:27 AM Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 10,542 this too shall pass tsuwm Carpal Tunnel tsuwm Carpal Tunnel Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 10,542 this too shall pass it comes from Latin, Duas tantum res anxius optat, Panem et circenses, as written by the Roman satirist Juvenal. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: "Give them bread and circuses" #33593 06/26/2001 1:52 AM Joined: Jun 2001 Posts: 9 2YsUR stranger 2YsUR stranger Joined: Jun 2001 Posts: 9 Thanks tsuwm! I think I've just found the pitch for my article on reality TV. So what does tsuwm mean? (I'm an ignorant beginner!) Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: "Give them bread and circuses" #33594 06/26/2001 4:55 AM Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 3,065 Jakarta Bingley Carpal Tunnel Bingley Carpal Tunnel Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 3,065 Jakarta Roughly speaking, "He anxiously chooses those two great matters, bread and circuses." Bingley Bingley Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: "Give them bread and circuses" - a punctilio #33595 06/26/2001 7:22 PM Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 315 Italy - Perugia is a town with... emanuela enthusiast emanuela enthusiast Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 315 Italy - Perugia is a town with... If circuses is the plural of circus, I have to add that the translation is a bit incorrect, becauses circenses does not mean "circuses", but "people fighting - or whatever - in the circuses". Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: "Give them bread and circuses" - a punctilio #33596 06/26/2001 7:28 PM Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 10,542 this too shall pass tsuwm Carpal Tunnel tsuwm Carpal Tunnel Joined: Apr 2000 Posts: 10,542 this too shall pass I have seen it translated as "circus games". Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: "Give them bread and circuses" - a punctilio #33597 06/26/2001 9:53 PM Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 6,511 lower upstate New York AnnaStrophic Carpal Tunnel AnnaStrophic Carpal Tunnel Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 6,511 lower upstate New York I dunno... what we are about to see here could be a folk etymology in Portuguese: pão e circo is a common expression to describe what the Brazilian government delivers to keep the little people happy. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: "Give them bread and circuses" #33598 06/28/2001 5:02 PM Joined: Nov 2000 Posts: 3,439 New England, USA wow Carpal Tunnel wow Carpal Tunnel Joined: Nov 2000 Posts: 3,439 New England, USA (apart from the obvious Marie Antoinette) I'm not too clear on your reference here ... You do mean that a similar thing was allegedly said by Marie Antoinette when told the people had no bread : "Let 'em eat cake." Don'cha? No offense, just checking! Some years ago I read an apologia which posited there was a "cake" available at the time that was made with much cheaper ingredients than those necessary for bread so therefore more readily available ... the point being Marie A was not as cold as the remark would indicate. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: "Give them bread and circuses" 2YsUR #221678 07/28/2015 7:45 AM Joined: Jul 2015 Posts: 1 the netherlands Indigosky stranger Indigosky stranger Joined: Jul 2015 Posts: 1 the netherlands Hi guys, I had to react to your remarks about "Marie Antoinette". The expression Marie Antoinette was unjustly accused of was "let them eat cake" The revolutionists used this and many other things to discredit her reputation. Actually this was said a hundred years earlier by Marie-Therese, the wife of Louis XIV. Last edited by Indigosky; 07/28/2015 7:46 AM. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Let them eat cake Indigosky #221692 07/28/2015 11:38 PM Joined: Oct 2010 Posts: 2,457 Likes: 10 London, UK A C Bowden Pooh-Bah A C Bowden Pooh-Bah Joined: Oct 2010 Posts: 2,457 Likes: 10 London, UK Originally Posted By: Indigosky The expression Marie Antoinette was unjustly accused of was "let them eat cake" In French: Qu'ils mangent de la brioche! Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Moderated by  Jackie  Hop To General Topics ------  Information and announcements  Q&A about words  Wordplay and fun  Words and languages in schools  Miscellany  Weekly Themes  Looking for (writers, speakers,... (Old) Weekly themes. 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