sub-rosa

Word of the Day for Monday December 19, 2005 sub rosa \suhb-ROH-zuh\, adverb: Secretly; privately; confidentially. sub-rosa, adjective: Designed to be secret or confidential; secretive; private.


Sub rosa comes from the Latin, literally "under the rose,"from the ancient association of the rose with confidentiality,the origin of which traces to a famous story in which Cupidgave Harpocrates, the god of silence, a rose to bribe him notto betray the confidence of Venus. Hence the ceilings of Romanbanquet-rooms were decorated with roses to remind guests thatwhat was spoken sub vino (under the influence of wine) wasalso sub rosa.

The picture here was taken months ago for a Photo Shoot for Actor and Playwright Waddys Jaquez. It was multiplied in order to create a sort of religious image in which waddys came down from heaven wearing nothing but a pair of briefs and another pair of wings. Here it is used for a different purpose.

This text is not supposed to be confidential ( I wouldn’t have published it in the blog), it serves another purpose. Just a little bit of inspiration coming from the word of the day that gets delivered to me daily by www.dictionary.com (hey, it’s a great way to upgrade my vocabulary in English).

I guess that a lot of things in my life had to stay sub-rosa for a long time. I guess some of them still are. There are things you just don’t share, because you’re scared or simply prefer to keep simple things simple.

It seems sort of a burden at time. Sub-rosa and simply distance causing.

A thought. ..