Asterix vocabulary

Glossary 4/6: Asterix and the Cauldron

Astérix et le Chaudron, Astérix y el caldero, Astèrix i el calderó, Asterix eta pertza, Astérix e o Caldeirão, Asterix e il paiolo, Asterix und der Kupferkessel, Asterix en de koperen ketel, Asterix och skatten, Asterix ja rahapata, Asteriks ve Kazan.

I can't give you free Asterix books, but for six of them I give you a glossary of all the Latin, and the unusual words, phrases and word games.

The glossary:

Various gods and goddesses appear in all the Asterix books. Toutatis, Belenos, Belisama, Taranis, Lug, Epona (Gaulish); Jupiter, Mercury, Pluto, Minerva, Apollo, Vesta (Roman); Zeus, Hermes, Hades, Poseidon, Athena, Ares (Greek); Ra, Isis, Osiris, Horus, Anubis (Egyptian).
Gaul (p3). A province of the Roman empire. Today it's France.
indomitable (p3). A person who will always resist; unconquerable.
fortified (p3). Made into a military base with strong walls.
shrewd (p4). Understands a situation quickly; cunning, clever like a fox.
a potion (p4). A magical liquid.
a druid (p4). A Celtic priest.
a menhir (p4). A megalith, like the big stones at Stonehenge and Carnac.
a wild boar (p4). A wild pig. Obelix's favourite food.

mistletoe (p4). A small green plant with white fruit. It grows on trees, and people say it is magical.
a bard (p4). A poet, musician and teacher.
majestic (p4). Impressive, like a king.
glee (p5). An archaic word. Joy, or a music festival.
Whosemoralsareelastix (p5). The name of a Gaulish chief. Somebody who has “elastic morals” is either almost a criminal or an actual criminal.
to show up (p6). To arrive, to appear.
to show somebody up (p6). To make somebody look stupid.
tax return (p6). The document you send each year to the tax office, to tell them how much money you made in the previous 12 months.
in their good tablets (p7). A small joke from the common English expression “you're in their good books” which means “you’re popular with them, they like you”.
redundancy (p10). A thing (or a person) is redundant when it is no longer needed.
to banish (p11). To force somebody to go away and not come back.
with your cauldron or in your cauldron (p11). From the classic heroic expression “come back with your shield (i.e. victorious) or on your shield” (i.e. dead).
a banishing act (p12). A small joke about the theatre magician’s performance, the vanishing act.
quo vadis? (p13). A military challenge (“Who goes there?”) in Latin.
vae victis (p14). Latin - “woe to the conquered" (if you are invaded, you have a bad time).
collective bargaining (p14). Pay negotiations that are carried out with an employer by a trade union.
solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant (p15). Latin. A quotation from Tacitus about the Roman way of civilising other countries - “they make it a desert and they call it peace”.
landlubbers (p16). Literally “land-lovers”. A sailor’s insult for people who are not professional sailors. .
horse chestnut (p17). There are two sorts of chestnut. You can eat sweet chestnuts, but not horse chestnuts.
conkered (p17). Horse chestnuts are usually called "conkers". This is a little joke about Julius Caesar’s famous saying “veni, vidi, vici” - I came, I saw, I conquered.
goose-step (p18). A strange, exaggerated, military march that is used in military ceremonies in many countries including Russia, the Ukraine, Poland, Greece and some countries in South America.
bolted (p19). If a lettuce gets too big, a gardener would say it bolted. Of course, if we are talking about a horse or a person then “bolted” means “ran away”.
a gross (p22). A unit of measurement. A dozen is twelve; twelve dozen (144) is one gross.
velite (p24). A gladiator or infantryman armed with a spear and a Roman short sword (gladius). The velitus did not wear armour or a helmet but he sometimes had a small round shield.
retiarus (p24). A gladiator armed with a net and a trident (a spear with three prongs like a fork). He wore armour only on one arm, and no helmet.
Numidian (p24). a man from what is now Algeria and Tunisia.
a cestus (p24). A metal glove for combat.
Ave Caesar, morituri te salutant (p26). Latin expression - the gladiator’s salute. “Hail Caesar! We who are about to die salute you.”
Philistine (p28). An actor’s insult for a person who does not appreciate art.
a hippodrome (p33). An arena for horse-racing.
Confidencetrix (p34). A "confidence trickster" or "con man" persuades people to give him money but gives them little or nothing in return.
Condatum (p37). The town of Rennes in Brittany.
quid pro quo (p41). Latin - an exchange of something for something. Often means “you do something for me, and I’ll do something for you”.
precious little (p41). Very little, hardly anything.