Snake in the Grass Is Two Thousand Years Old
A snake is a long legless reptile. The phrase for a treacherous friend comes from a Roman poet.
A snake is a long legless reptile. *A snake in the grass*, meaning a treacherous friend, is a translation of Virgil's *latet anguis in herba* — a snake lurks in the grass — written around 37 BCE in the *Eclogues*. English has been using the line for two thousand years without most speakers knowing its source. Snakes evolved from lizards and some pythons still carry vestigial hind limb bones, tiny spurs beside the tail.
- A legless reptile. *A grass snake.*
- A treacherous person. *A snake in the grass.*
- Serpent — the formal word. *A serpent.*
- Ophidian — of snakes. *Ophidian.*
- Old English — *snaca*. *The source.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | snake | A snake. |
| Plural | snakes | Snakes. |
| Verb | snake | The road snakes. |
| Adjective | snaky | Snaky. |
| Latin | anguis | A snake. |
- A snake crossed the path.Animal.
- He turned out to be a snake in the grass.Idiom.
- The road snakes up the valley.Verb.
Snake facts worth knowing
- They evolved from lizards, losing limbs gradually
- Some pythons keep vestigial hind limbs as small spurs
- They smell with their tongues, delivering scent to a roof-of-mouth organ
- They do not unhinge their jaws — the lower jaw halves separate instead
- About one in eight species is venomous
Old English *snaca*, of Germanic origin, from a root meaning to crawl.
Where does snake in the grass come from?
From Virgil's Eclogues, around 37 BCE: latet anguis in herba, a snake lurks in the grass.
Do snakes unhinge their jaws?
No. The two halves of the lower jaw are connected by an elastic ligament and can separate, which is not the same as dislocating.