Smiling more when speaking

[markhavemann]

This thread got me thinking about a Roman poem that talks about a "Spaniard" who smiles too much. The first time I read it I wondered if there was some cultural difference at the core of why he hated how much this guy smiles. Here's a bit of it:

 

Quote

 

Whatever it is, wherever he is,whatever he is doing, he grins: he has this disease,neither elegant, I think, nor refined.

 

 

It's not very long and kind of entertaining, here's the link: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Translation:Catullus_39