Reposted by Dr Danny Bate
Chameleon, from the Greek χαμαί ‘on the earth’ and λέων ‘lion’, was calqued from Akkadian nēš(u ša) qaqqari lit. ‘lion of the ground’, a figure attested in the Epic of Gilgamesh (line 314 ᴜʀ.ᴍᴀʜ šá qaq‐qa‐ri). The term is paralleled in lexical tablets from Ebla (ca. 2300 BCE) as na‐iš qar‐qá‐rí‐m.
![They are Fools that Reason thus,
Communis Error facit Jus [kə-
ˈmju:-nɪs ˈer-ə ˈfeɪ-sɪt ʤᴧs].
(Robert Dixon, Canidia, or the Witches (1683), XVI.718–19)
To what Absurdities will you hale us?
Semel malus semper præsumitur esse malus
[ˈsi:-məlˈmeɪ-ləs ˈsem-pə prɪ-
ˈsᴧm-ɪ-tɜ:
ˈes-i:ˈmeɪ-ləs].](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:vpepa7tkir7iaia3risvyjc6/bafkreie6gpnktsjiv44h7m2hmp6wwhsixbaegpuoauu7yfa6lrdykejaeq)
![Culpam in Jovem rejicias [ˈcᴧl-pəm ɪn ˈʤəʊ-vəm rə-ˈʤɪʃ-əs],
Say’twas the Gods, not you that were vicious.
(ibid. XVI.1073–4)
To prove that Peers should never vary,
Nor Leges Anglice mutari [ˈli:-ʤi:zˈæɳglɪ-si mju:-ˈteə-ri]35
.
(Thomas Tickell, For England’s Injured Church and Law (1730), lines 79–10)
Watches, when first invented– seek’em,
In brother Trusler’s Vade Mecum[ˈveɪ-di:ˈmi:-kəm].
(William Mason, King Stephen’s Watch. A Tale (1782), lines 13–14)
Your subtile spirits, or your mighty,
Your aqua fortis, aqua vitae [ˈæk-wə ˈfɔ:-tɪs, ˈæk-wə ˈvaɪ-ti:].
(Thomas Holcroft, Human Happiness, or the Sceptic (1783), I.151–2)
With nonsense in verse can elate and delight’em,
And gives them variety ad infinitum [æd ˌɪn-fɪ-
ˈnaɪ-təm].
(Anthony Pasquin, The Children of Thepsis (1789), Part II.795–6)](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:vpepa7tkir7iaia3risvyjc6/bafkreifzhr2r4fcwtvbsm2n6swodsrycanniohaz2xu5fvqikxf3a32dyq)
![But peace to her– her Emperor and Diet,
Though now transferred to Buonapartè’s ‘fiat’ [ˈfaɪ-ət].
(Byron, The Waltz: An Apostrophic Hymn (1813), lines 55–6)
But that, indeed, was hopeless as can be,
Quite a poetic felony‘de se’[di: si:].
(Byron, The Vision of Judgement (1822), XCIV.751–2)
And had told all the party a great booming lie, he
Cook’d up, that‘the fête was postposed sine die’ [ˈsaɪ-ni:ˈdaɪ-i:].
(Thomas Ingoldsby, The Lay of St Cuthbert (1840), lines 74–5)
So unless you’re a dunce, You’ll see clearly, at once,
When you come to consider the facts of the case, he,
Of course never gave her his Vade in pace [ˈveɪ-di: ɪn ˈpeɪ-si:].
(Thomas Ingoldsby, The Lay of the Old Woman Clothed in Grey (1840), lines 263–5)
Your thoughts, opinions, freely state’em.
Then, here they follow seriatim [ˌsɪə-ri-ˈeɪ-tɪm].
(Robert Story, Reply to an Epistle from Mr. Gourley (1857), lines 31–2)
May thy hand be fierce as Ate’s [ˈeɪ-ti:z]
Fighting for our old Penates [pe-ˈneɪ-ti:z]
(Lady Wilde, The Old Man’s Blessing (1864), lines 13–14)](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:vpepa7tkir7iaia3risvyjc6/bafkreih3k6z37bfspfsdcpdy434dgi4evq44twfnvl7jucsgen4vf5uzs4)
