Liliputin-4669

Latin saying "Money does not stink" doesn't pass the smell test ... "
Diogenes

Liliputins. What, the heck, is this?
http://stihi.ru/2021/11/24/7101

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Pecunia non olet

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pecunia non olet is a Latin saying that means "money does not stink". The phrase is ascribed to the Roman emperor Vespasian (ruled AD 69–79).

History

A tax on the disposal of urine was first imposed by Emperor Nero under the name of vectigal urinae in the 1st century AD. The tax was removed after a while, but it was re-enacted by Vespasian around 70 AD in order to fill the treasury.
Vespasian imposed a urine tax on the distribution of urine from Rome's public urinals (the Roman lower classes urinated into pots, which were later emptied into cesspools). The urine collected from these public urinals was sold as an ingredient for several chemical processes. It was used in tanning, wool production, and also by launderers as a source of ammonia to clean and whiten woollen togas. The buyers of the urine paid the tax. The Roman historian Suetonius reports that when Vespasian's son Titus complained about the disgusting nature of the tax, his father held up a gold coin and asked whether he felt offended by its smell (sciscitans num odore offenderetur). When Titus said "No", Vespasian replied, "Yet it comes from urine" (Atqui ex lotio est). The phrase pecunia non olet is still used today to say that the value of money is not tainted by its origins. Vespasian's name still attaches to public urinals in Italy (vespasiano) and France (vespasienne).


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"Pass the smell test" is an idiom that means to be trustworthy, credible, authentic, or morally acceptable12. It is usually used in negative constructions. The opposite of "pass the smell test" is "not pass the smell test", which means to not be or seem trustworthy, credible, authentic, or morally acceptable3.