senza infamia e senza lode

Italian

Etymology

Literally, “without infamy and without praise”. From Dante's La Divina Commedia (see the quotation below). First attested in 1472.

Prepositional phrase

senza infamia e senza lode

1. neither exceptional nor terrible; without praise or blame; middling, unimpressive
   • 2000 [1472], Dante Alighieri, “Inferno”, in Robert Hollander, Jean Hollander, transl., La Divina Commedia [The Divine Comedy], Doubleday:

     Ed elli a me: "Questo misero modo / tegnon l'anime triste di coloro / che visser sanza 'nfamia e sanza lodo.

     And he to me: 'This miserable state is borne / by the wretched souls of those who lived / without disgrace yet without praise.