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“habet et musca splenem”
Habet et musca splenem.
Even a fly has a spleen.
The Romans believed anger was centered in the spleen, and we still cling idiomatically to that conception. An English version might be, "The worm turns." In France and Spain, "The ant has its ire." In Italy, "Even the fly has its fury." Poland has an idiom that says, "Even a fly has a belly." This seems to say that the least among us has hunger and aspirations; as well as, rage.
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Latin Proverbs, Mottoes, Phrases, and Words: Group H
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spleno-, splen-, splenico-, spleni-, -splenism, -splenia, -splenic
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