de gustibus non est disputandum

Danish

Alternative forms

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin de gustibus non est disputandum.

Proverb

de gustibus non est disputandum

  1. there's no accounting for taste
    • 1919, Grænsevagten
      De nuværende Hovedtalere for Tyskland var netop dengang Bærerne af Tanken om at tilbyde England Protektoratet over Slesvig-Holsten. Naa, de gustibus non est disputandum.
    • 1830, Jens Baggesen, Danske vaerker: Labyrinthen. 3. deel, page 363
      Maden, man opvarter med, vil jeg ikke tale om – de gustibus non est disputandum; men det, den koster, tilligemed alt det Øvrige, ...
    • 1913, Filologisk-historiske samfund (Denmark), Johan Ludvig Heiberg, Geoffrey Chaucer, Uffe Birkedal, Studier fra sprog- og oldtidsforskning
      Omvendt siger man jo, at Smag og Behag er forskellig, og de gustibus non est disputandum ...
    • 1983, Christian Kronman, På Skanderborg station: en biografisk rejse gennem Sophus Claussens ungdomsværk
      ... Troen er en Følelses Sag, og de gustibus non est disputandum.
    • 1935, Louis Leonor Hammerich, Indledning til tysk grammatik
      Til diskussioner om, hvorvidt tysk er smukkere end fransk, er kun at sige: »de gustibus non est disputandum«.

Synonyms


Latin

Etymology

Origin uncertain; likely of non-classical origin,[1] particularly due to the grammar. An alternative, more recent form: de gustibus et coloribus non est disputandum (There’s no arguing about tastes and colors.) originated in French literature in the early 19th century.

The sentiment behind the phrase is much older though. Plutarch reports that when Cæsar was dining at his friend Valerius Leo's in Milan, his host served up asparagus dressed in muron rather than olive oil. When his friends complained, Cæsar rebuked them:

‘ἤρκει γὰρ,’ ἔφη, ‘τὸ μὴ χρῆσθαι τοῖς ἀπαρέσκουσιν· ὁ δὲ τὴν τοιαύτην ἀγροικίαν ἐξελέγχων αὐτός ἐστιν ἄγροικος.’
‘Surely,’ said [Cæsar], ‘it were enough not to eat what you don't like; but he who finds fault with ill-breeding like this is ill-bred himself.’ – Plut. Cæs. 17.6[2]

Pronunciation

  • (Classical) IPA(key): /deː ˈɡus.ti.bus noːn est dis.puˈtan.dum/, [deː ˈɡʊs.tɪ.bʊs noːn ɛst dɪs.pʊˈtan.dũ]
  • (Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /de ˈɡus.ti.bus non est dis.puˈtan.dum/

Phrase

de gustibus non est disputandum

  1. there's no accounting for taste.
    Literally, “There is not to be disputation concerning tastes.”
    • 1710, The life of Henry More - Richard Ward
      ... And when some Reasons were offer'd that such and such Acts in such and such Circumstances are and ought to be in all the Eternal Objects of Anger and Disgust; He reply'd De Gustibus non est disputandum (there is no Disputing concerning Tasts[sic])

Synonyms

References

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.