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Make Your Point > Archived Issues > SUB ROSA

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pronounce SUB ROSA:

sub ROZE uh
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connect this word to others:

As we check out the beautiful term sub rosa, meaning "under the rose: done in secrecy," see if you can recall two similar Latin terms, both of which mean "outdoors: under the open sky" but with slightly different connotations:

Sub d___ (two words) is literally "under the open air."

And sub j___ frig___ (three words) is literally "under the cold planet Jupiter."

(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)  

definition:

"Sub rosa" is Latin and literally means "under the rose," but we use it to mean "secretly: done in secret, or done in private."

I didn't know this until I started researching for this issue, but apparently, going back to ancient myth, roses have symbolized secrecy. The story has many versions and basically goes like this: Harpocrates, the Greek god of secrets, privacy, and confidentially, received a rose as a gift in exchange for keeping the giver's love affairs a secret. Roses, then, were carved into ceilings in areas where people would hold private conversations, such as dining rooms and confessionals, reminding people that what they said would be kept confidential.

grammatical bits:

Part of speech:

Most often an adverb: "The paper circulated sub rosa;" "They made the deal sub rosa."

Also an adjective: "It was a sub rosa deal."

Other forms: 

Some writers hyphenate the adjective, as in "a sub-rosa scheme" or "a sub-rosa network."

how to use it:

"Sub rosa" is somewhat rare and not easily understood, so if you use it, try helping your listener understand it by including enough context. Both the examples cited below do this well.

Talk about people doing things sub rosa, or about things happening sub rosa.

For example, you might talk about meetings taking place sub rosa, money changing hands sub rosa, missions being executed sub rosa, corruption raging sub rosa, relationships being carried on sub rosa, or deals or plans made sub rosa.

examples:

"Unannounced and sub rosa, Englishmen were placing insurance bets against Adolf Hitler's death by assassination."
  — Staff, Time, 1 April 1935

"Husbands [on TV in the 1950s] like Ralph Kramden and Ricky Ricardo were bossy despots who never quite understood that their wives were really running the show sub rosa." 
  — Alessandra Stanley, New York Times, 10 October 2011

has this page helped you understand "sub rosa"?

   

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this term, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.




study it:

Explain the meaning of "sub rosa" without saying "secretly" or "confidentially."

try it out:

Fill in the blank: "It was whispered, sub rosa, that (something was true, or something had happened, or something might happen)."

Example 1: "It was whispered, sub rosa, that the director had been fired for dating an intern."

Example 2: "It was whispered, sub rosa, that with her personal graces was united a disposition proud, self-willed, and shrewish."
  — Robert S. Fittis, The Mosstrooper, 1906




before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game this month is Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Fragments.

In each issue, check out an excerpt from a master of American prose, one in which I've changed the lovely sentence fragments into ugly but grammatically correct sentences. Try restoring the excerpt to its original glory by chiseling those sentences down into fragments.

You can check out some examples here.

Try this one today. It's from Frederick Douglass's My Bondage and My Freedom:

I will now return, or rather, begin. My knowledge of my mother is very scanty, but very distinct. Her personal appearance and bearing are ineffaceably stamped upon my memory. She was tall, and finely proportioned; of deep black, glossy complexion; had regular features, and, among the other slaves, was remarkably sedate in her manners.

To see the original version, scroll all the way down.

review this word:

1. A near opposite of SUB ROSA is

A. CORAM POPULO: "in the presence of the people," meaning "publicly."
B. SUB VINO: "under the grapevine," meaning "drunk, and therefore forthcoming."
C. NULLA ROSA SINE SPINIS: "there is no rose without thorns," meaning "good and bad are intertwined."

2. In Richmond, the Sub Rosa Bakery got its name from its founder, who started out _____.

A. as a newly-arrived immigrant with big dreams and a passion for bread
B. baking bread at night in his father's restaurant and selling it to members of a secret group
C. in the finance industry, using his free time to bake bread and deliver it to community members in need




Answers to the review questions:
1. A
2. B

From the game: There are lots of different ways to render each highlighted bit into a fragment! If your version pleases your ears, then you did great.

Here's the original version:

But to return, or rather, to begin. My knowledge of my mother is very scanty, but very distinct. Her personal appearance and bearing are ineffaceably stamped upon my memory. She was tall, and finely proportioned; of deep black, glossy complexion; had regular features, and, among the other slaves, was remarkably sedate in her manners.


a final word:


I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.

I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.


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A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.

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