calends

In the common language we often hear phrases such as: ab initio (from the beginning), ad hoc (for this, for this purpose), modus vivendi (way of living), quod erat demonstrandum (which had to be demonstrated), status quo (existing state of affairs), tabula rasa (erased slate), ad litteram (literally), verba volant, scripta manent (spoken words fly away, written words remain), ad calendas graecas (on the Greek calends, meaning 'when pigs fly'), etc.

The Calends was the first of the month - the day of accounting (the origin of "calendar".) The Ides was the middle day of the month and the Nones was the ninth day before the Ides.

"This most negative of developments vindicates our warnings that if the government and DISY were unable to introduce a multi-payer system, to serve the interests of a handful of private insurance companies, they would refer the NHS to the Greek Calends," spokesman Yiorgos Loucaides said.

Hence my translation of Beowulf, and Staves Calends Legends [Jargon Society, 1979],

Suetonius tells this legend so that it foreshadows his histrionics and madness: "Nero was born in Antium, nine months after the death of Tiberius, eighteen days before the calends of January, in the rising sun, whose rays brightened him before touching earth.