bread and circuses

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• Received-Pronunciation: /ˈbɹɛd ənd ˈsəː.kəs.əz/
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• Received-Pronunciation: /-iz/
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• Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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• General-American: /ˈbɹɛd ənd ˈsɚ.kə.səz/
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• General-American: /-kɪ.səz/
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Calque of Latin panem et circenses, a reference to Satire 10 of the Roman poet Juvenal’s Satires (early 2nd century C.E.). The relevant passage states: “... nam qui dabat olim imperium, fasces, legiones, omnia, nunc se continet atque duas tantum res anxius optat, panem et circenses” (“[F]or that sovereign people that once gave away military command, consulships, legions, and every thing, now bridles its desires, and limits its anxious longings to two things only,—bread, and the games of the circus!”). Juvenal was commenting that the Roman people no longer cared for political involvement, and were satisfied with cheap food and entertainment provided by politicians.

34 source translations are retained for this English entry.

• Basque: ogia eta zirku — food and entertainment provided by the state
• Breton: bara ha c'hoarioù — food and entertainment provided by the state
• Catalan: pa i circ — food and entertainment provided by the state
• Chinese Cantonese: 蛇齋餅粽 /蛇斋饼粽 — food and entertainment provided by the state
• Chinese Mandarin: 麵包與馬戲 /面包与马戏 (miànbāo yǔ mǎxì) — food and entertainment provided by the state
• Czech: chléb a hry — food and entertainment provided by the state
• Danish: brød og skuespil — food and entertainment provided by the state
• Dutch: brood en spelen — food and entertainment provided by the state
• Esperanto: pano kaj ludoj — food and entertainment provided by the state
• Estonian: leib ja tsirkus — food and entertainment provided by the state
• Finnish: leipä ja sirkushuvit — food and entertainment provided by the state
• French: du pain et des jeux — food and entertainment provided by the state
• German: Brot und Zirkusspiele — food and entertainment provided by the state
• German: Brot und Spiele — food and entertainment provided by the state
• Greek: άρτον και θεάματα (árton kai theámata) — food and entertainment provided by the state
• Hebrew: לֶחֶם וְשַׁעֲשׁוּעִים (lekhem vesha'ashu'im) — food and entertainment provided by the state
• Icelandic: brauði og leikum — food and entertainment provided by the state
• Japanese: パンとサーカス (pan to sākasu) — food and entertainment provided by the state
• Latin: panem et circenses — food and entertainment provided by the state
• Lithuanian: duonos ir žaidimų — food and entertainment provided by the state
• Occitan: de pan e de jòcs — food and entertainment provided by the state
• Portuguese: pão e circo — food and entertainment provided by the state
• Romanian: pâine și circ — food and entertainment provided by the state
• Serbo-Croatian: хлеба и игара — food and entertainment provided by the state
• Serbo-Croatian: хљеба и игара — food and entertainment provided by the state
• Serbo-Croatian: круха и игара — food and entertainment provided by the state
• Serbo-Croatian: hleba i igara — food and entertainment provided by the state
• Serbo-Croatian: hljeba i igara — food and entertainment provided by the state
• Serbo-Croatian: kruha i igara — food and entertainment provided by the state
• Spanish: pan y circo — food and entertainment provided by the state
• Swedish: bröd och skådespel — food and entertainment provided by the state
• Turkish: ekmek ve sirkler — food and entertainment provided by the state
• Turkish: ekmek ve sirk oyunları — food and entertainment provided by the state
• Portuguese: pão e circo — grand spectacles staged or statements made to distract and pacify people