pecunia non olet

Latin

Etymology

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pecunia non olet

Literally “money does not stink”. According to Suetonius, this sentence was Vespasian's reply to his son Titus, complaining about the urine tax he had imposed.

Compare English where there's muck there's brass.

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /peˈkuː.ni.a noːn ˈo.let/, [pɛˈkuːniä noːn ˈɔɫ̪ɛt̪]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /peˈku.ni.a non ˈo.let/, [peˈkuːniä nɔn ˈɔːlet̪]

Phrase

pecūnia nōn olet

money does not smell (the value of money is not affected by the business it comes from, even from the most unpleasant one)

Descendants

→ Dutch: geld stinkt niet (calque)
→ English: money does not smell (calque)
→ French: l’argent n’a pas d’odeur (calque)
→ German: Geld stinkt nicht (calque)
→ Russian: де́ньги не па́хнут (dénʹgi ne páxnut) (calque)