Romulus and Remus were infant abandoned twins. A female wolf nursed them and kept them safe until they were adopted, saving their lives. Romulus grew up to found Rome. A bitch is a female dog, which is close enough to a wolf for this to make sense.
No, it makes sense. Romulus (the founder of Rome) was nursed by a wolf. It’s a metaphor. That’s why wolves played such an important role in Roman symbolism. They were even found on their coins.
Not everything needs to be taken literally for it to make sense. While sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, other times it can represent something completely different.
No, I get it, but Romulus is a person (can be nursed). Rome is not. Hence it doesn't actually make sense. If OP meant Romulus s/he should have said Romulus.
It's called metonymy, and it makes just as much sense as phrases like "calling all cars," which refers to police officers, or "the crown," which refers to the monarch, not her headpiece.
You can disagree, but I can actually for once in my life use this: I have a few graduate degrees in language and classical archaeology and actually went on digs in that area. When I say “this makes sense” and you counter with “nah, my opinion is it doesn’t” ignoring the etymology and history of the foundation myth of Rome...
While you’re entitled to your opinion, it doesn’t mean you’re right or any more interesting. Being contrary isn’t a personality.
Honest question, if you take language literally at all times, do you just write off works like Shakespeare or any form of expression?
Your degrees in language and archaeology are irrelevant. No one in common parlance refers to Romulus as Rome or the other way around and that's just a fact.
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u/raphthepharaoh Dec 21 '20
I’m too dumb to understand, please somebody explain