help me understand this proverb please...

[sardith]

I received this proverb as my quote-of-the-day selection this morning, and I need help understanding exactly what it means. Can anyone help me?
Susan


He is an aristocrat in folio.
~Proverb, (Dutch)~

[Perry]

I could not find an answer, but I have a guess. My thinking is that the meaning is, "he is an aristocrat on paper [, but in reality he is a scoundrel]".

[Stargzer]

...
He is an aristocrat in folio.
~Proverb, (Dutch)~

I found this at Wiktionary:

LatinPronunciation(Classical) IPA: /ˈfo.li.um/
Noun folium (genitive foliī); n, second declension

1.a leaf
2.a sheet or leaf of paper
3.(figuratively) trifle, thing of no consequence

In Latin, "in" is a Latin prepostion whose object is in either the accusative and ablative case; for folium both cases are folio. "In" can take on several meanings, including:

With ablative: affected by; engaged in, involved in.

With accusative: (indicating person to whom feelings are directed) towards, to, for; about, respecting; for, with a view to.

(The Bantam New College Latin & English Dictionary, Revised and Enlarged, John C. Traupman, Ph.D., St. Joseph's University, Philadelphia. Copyright (C) 1966, 1995 by Bantam Books.)

So, if "in folio" is a Latin phrase, perhaps he could be:

"... an aristocrat engaged in something of no consequence"

or

"... an aristocrat to whom you own no feelings of any consequence"

or

"... an aristocrat of no consequence" (someone unimportant).

A Bing search pulled up 20 pages of Dutch proverbs (almost 1000). Here's a sampling from page 7 (I'm partial to the ton of knowledge and the leaden dagger):

Great cry and little wool, quoth the devil, when he sheared his hogs.

Great cry and little wool.

Great fishes break the net.

Great fools must have great bells.

Great gaps may be filled with small stones.

Great promisers, bad paymasters.

Great talkers are little doers.

Great weights may hang on small wires.

Guessing is missing.

Half a word to the wise is enough.

Hares are not caught with drums.

Hasty questions require slow answers.

Hasty speed don't oft succeed.

He burns the candle at both ends.

He buys honey dear who has to lick it off thorns.

He cannot lay eggs, but he can cackle.

He counts his chickens before they are hatched.

He covers me with his wings, and bites me with his bill.

He earns a farthing and has a penn'orth of thirst.

He fell with his nose in the butter.

He gapes like a clown at a fair.

He has a ton of knowledge, but the bottom is out.

He has a wolf-conscience.

He has him under his thumb.

He has lost the nest-egg.

He has seen the wolf.

He has the Bible on his lips, but not in his heart.

He howls with the wolves, and bleats with the sheep.

He invites future injuries who rewards past ones.

He is an aristocrat in folio.

He is an essence of scoundrels.

He is as easily caught as a hare with drums.

He is as good a Catholic as Duke Alva's dog; who ate flesh in Lent.

He is as good a divine as Judas was an apostle.

He is as poor as Job.

He is as sharp as a leaden dagger.

He is as welcome as the first day in Lent. (Alluding to fastday.)

He is noble who performs noble deeds.

He is nobody's enemy but his own.

I also like this one from page 20 for some reason:

Young fools think that the old are dotards, but the old have forgotten more than the young fools know.

[Perry]

Which reminds me of a line I heard yesterday in an Elvin Bishop song. To paraphrase, "I know a thing or two. I've been young, but you haven't been old yet."

[sardith]

Larry~
Thanks for the clarification on my Dutch proverb and for the plethora of proverbs you shared!
I will add to the stack, my favorite:

“When one is in love, a cliff becomes a meadow.” Ethiopian Proverb


Susan Lee
p.s. I also have the quote that is at the bottom of your posting, the one from the Founding Father, Richard Henry Lee, because my husband is related to him.



Perry~
Thanks for your help. I loved the Elvin Bishop quote. I think I'll use it, the next time my adolescent daughter tells me that my syllogism is faulty, when we are having a dispute!
Have a great week,
Susan

[damoge]

Just asked a Dutch friend. He says it means, he's nuts. I guess it's equivalent to
he only thinks he's an aristocrat...

(the "thinks" was meant to be italicized, but that's not how it looks right now)

[sardith]

Dear Damage~

Thank you for finding the cultural key to the puzzle. I don't know anyone Dutch, and was pretty sure that their perspective was the only way to get to the bottom of it.

Being able to send my question out 'there' is really great. Thanks!

Susan

[damoge]

While I'm capable of causing great damage, the name is damOge, sort of short-hand for D. A. Moggio. My name is Deborah, but I'm more comfortable with debby with a "y". I do, however, much enjoy being a bee.

Glad you found it useful. I thought it was fun, too.

[sardith]

So sorry about the name mix-up. I think my brain inserted the 'a' in that slot, merely because that's what it was expecting to see, and I didn't look close enough. My apologies.

Susan
p.s. My best friend has the 'bee' name also!

[Stargzer]

Lots of people put an "a" in my handle, but I spell it the way it is because there are days when I don't know if I'm missing an "a" or two "e's."

[Slava]

Lots of people put an "a" in my handle, but I spell it the way it is because there are days when I don't know if I'm missing an "a" or two "e's."

Might this also hark back to olden days, when names could be only eight letters or digits long?

[damoge]

the license plate of a fellow I know is
RNR GZR
I live in Washington State. Care to guess how this is supposed to be read?

[sardith]

Dear Damoge~

Could it possibly stand for:

Mt. Rainier Geezer?

Susan

[damoge]

That's what I thought. Then Ranier Gazer, but both are wrong.

Clue: he's a DJ for a nostalgic music show on our local radio station

[Stargzer]

Lots of people put an "a" in my handle, but I spell it the way it is because there are days when I don't know if I'm missing an "a" or two "e's."

Might this also hark back to olden days, when names could be only eight letters or digits long?

Probably; I've had that handle from back in the days of PPP dial-up lines to Unix Shell accounts, back before Internet Explorer 1.0 was even in Beta, when Lynx searched for Internet Gophers, FIDO transferred files, rec.humor had not much humorous, graphics meant pictures drawn with ASCII characters, long signatures were discouraged and even vilified, high-speed connections of 56 Kbps and 1.544 Mbps (T-1) were out of the reach of ordinary people, and OJ's modus operandi was Enter//\\Esc (enter, forward slash, forward slash, back slash, back slash, escape).

Code: Select all

                  __
                  /  \
                 /|oo \
                (_|  /_)
                 _`@/_ \    _
                |     | \   \\
                | (*) |  \   ))
   ______       |__U__| /  \//
  / FIDO \       _//|| _\   /
 (________)     (_/(_|(____/

Code: Select all

Wishing you clear skies, moderate temperatures, and a major regional power failure (you DO have an UPS for your 'scope, don't you?)...  ;-)

      * Regards//Larry
    __ 
  =/ / 
  / /      "My God!  It's full of stars!"
 /_/&       -- David Bowman, 2001
   /|\  "When it is dark enough, you can see the stars."
            -- Ralph Waldo Emerson