Photo by Muffy Aldrich
The Modern Guide to The Thing Before Preppy

Wednesday, August 15, 2018

Latin Phrases

Photos by Salt Water New England

It is hard not to be impressed with the Roman culture's skill of creating efficient phrases.
Mens Sana In Corpore Sano 
Fortuna Eruditis Favet 
SPQR 
Cave Canem  
Requiescat In Pace
What is your favorite Latin phrase? (And for first year students, "The farmer is a poet" is acceptable.)





78 comments:

  1. "Sic transit gloria mundi"(or as the title of George Harrison's famous album once proclaimed,"All things must pass.")

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  2. Aspirando et Perseverando.

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  3. From the Aeneid - “fessi rerum” - formally weary with adversity, colloquially, tired of things.

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  4. My favorite farmer-poet's "simplex munditiis"--rather fitting, I think, as a description of preppy style.

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  5. Esse quam videri
    "To be, rather than to seem"
    State motto of North Carolina.

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  6. As a freshman in Latin class, a bunch of us were also in P E together. We called our softball team the “Aegri Agricoli “.

    MaryAnne

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  7. Praesent superare odio

    "Rise above evil."

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  8. Ubi sumus? (Fun to say but not very helpful when you really do need directions)
    Tempus fugit
    Pro bono publico

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  9. I've always admired the Phillips Academy's (Andover, MA) "NON SIBI" --- not for self.

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  10. Illegitimi non carborundum.

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  11. Not sure this is genuine Latin, but I've always been fond of "Illegitimi non Carborundum"

    NCJack

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  12. Vulpes non capitur muneribus.

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  13. Caesar walks into a bar. The Bartender asks "Martini?" Caesar replies "No, tonight it'll be one and done, make it a dry Martinus with olives".

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    1. When Caesar went to a bar, he generally preferred beer. Being an emperor, he didn't have to buy a drink and it was always on the house. The bartender always greeted him with "ale, Caesar?".

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    2. Ken, I bow to you.

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  14. With fond memories of my Kansas days, "ad astra per aspera," and my many RAF friends, "per ardua ad astra."

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    1. --or memories of smoking unfiltered Pall Malls.

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    2. Quone modo nunc, fulve bos?
      How now, brown cow?

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  15. Caveat emptor.

    Very relevant to modern society.

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  16. Veni vidi vici -- I came, I saw, I conquered is the first (usually heard in movies about Ancient Romans) -- second favorite comes from The Handmaid's Tale -- Nolite te Bastardes Carborundorum -- my son took Latin for four years in high school via the Cambridge Latin Course (which actually was fun). The first year I picked up a little Latin just practicing the vocab lists with him! But by the time he got to declensions, I was in over my head. However every time I go into a museum with Roman artifacts, I can still decipher a bit -- triclinium -- dining room!

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    1. I have a Chipp necktie from way back in the day that says "Non illegitimi carborundum," "Don't let the bastards grind you down."

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  17. In vino veritas. Loosely translated...From wine comes truth.

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  18. Refreshing post!
    I shall add - Cursum perficio, I accomplish my course - ARH

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  19. Dulce est Desipere in Loco--it is nice to throw aside one's dignity and relax at the proper time.
    Mirable dictu--wonderful to relate.
    Contra mundum--against the world.
    Palmam qui meruit ferat--let whoever earns the palm bear it.

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  20. Replies
    1. So true for 1992. Strong words for a modern monarch!

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  21. Vitae summa brevis spem nos vetat incohare longam. Horace, but really Dowson makes it meaningful to me with his ...they are not long, the days of wine and roses....

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  22. Semper ubi sub ubi: "Always wear underwear"

    Timelessly sound advice...

    -Mike

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  23. ad vitam aeternam
    carpe diem
    nec plus ultra
    errare humanum est
    homo homini lupus

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  24. Not sure it qualifies as favorite, but the one I use more often, Carpe Diem.

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  25. Hampshire College's fitting motto: "Non Satis Scire". Translation: "To know is not enough".

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  26. From Ovid-Bene vixit, qui bene latuit. "To live well, is to live concealed". Had to re-type most of it due to irritating spell check.

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  27. My favorite Latin phrase that I use all the time is "post-tenebras-lux" after darkness light.

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  28. Scientiae Cedit Mare.

    AEF

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  29. Vincere est totum

    To win is everything

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  30. O Sibili, Si ergo
    Fortibuses in Ero
    Nobili Demis Trux
    Sewatis Enim? Cowsendux.

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  31. What a wonderful question! I have two favorites:

    Qvi docent discit
    Qvi plantavit curabit

    From George Bernard Shaw, "Qvi docent discit" or "he teaches, learns." I am a history teacher and have been for thirty three years, so this has much meaning to me.

    The other is the Roosevelt family motto (Manhattan side - TR branch, not Hudson River side of the family, the FDR branch) "Qvi Plantavit Curabit" or "he who plants preserves" (also interpreted as "also grows"). My Dad was a farmer, so this dual meaning of planting leading to preservation, or also to growth (which I like to interpret as self growth) has equally strong meaning to me.

    Teaching, learning, growing, preserving. All intricately interwoven in my life.

    The Concord Diaspora

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  32. Non incautus futuri. Not unmindful of the future. Motto of Washington and Lee University

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  33. Thank you, Stephanie, for pointing out the typo.

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  34. Dum vivimus vivamus
    While we liven let us live

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  35. My fraternity's motto is "Manus multae cor unum" -- many hands, one heart.

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  36. "Persona non grata" hands down. My late maternal grandfather used it fairly often, it reminds me of him whenever I read, hear, or use it myself.

    Best Regards,

    Heinz-Ulrich

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  37. "NEC TEMERE NEC TIMIDE" - "Neither rashly nor timidly”

    Which is the motto of the Royal Danish Naval Academy. The academy was established in 1701 and still teach this motto today. The danish translation will be more like reckless than rashly i suppose.

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  38. Ut Prosim - That I may serve (Motto of Virginia Tech)

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  39. Oohh, I just can't choose one...

    Antiquis temporibus, nati tibi similes in rupibus vntosissimis exponebantur ad necem =
    In the good old days, children like you were left to perish on windswept crags.
    or
    Ad eundum quo nemo ante iit =
    To boldly go where no man has gone before.
    or
    Estne volumen in toga, an solum tibi libet me videre?
    = Is that a scroll in your toga, or are you just happy to see me?

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  40. "IN VMBRA IGITVR PVGNABIMVS" -- Then we will fight in the shade. (Laconic saying.)

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  41. Festina Lente - Make Haste Slowly

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  42. aien aristeuein (ever to excel)

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  43. I didn't see "Semper fidelis" or "Semper fi" listed here or did I miss it?

    Always loyal or Always faithful. Motto of the marines.

    I'm loving these answers.

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    1. As a former Marine (no such thing as an ex-Marine and capitalize, please ;-), I appreciate you beating me to this.

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    2. My apologies, sir. I did not know that, and thank you for the correction. My father-in-law was a marine (he has recently passed). I live with a husband who was raised by a marine, and while sometimes frustrating, I have the utmost respect for how they live their lives.

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  44. Ars Gratia Artis

    (in the MGM logo)

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  45. Dum spiro, spero (while I breathe, I hope).

    AnnZ in Fairfax

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  46. NON MINISTRARI SED MINISTRARE
    Wellesley College
    Suzanne

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  47. "Quid quid agis, prudenter ahas et respice finem" (Whatever you do, do it with intelligence and with the end in mind) - the operative word here being "intelligence". A favourite of my father's, and particularly relevant in these divided and oft' short-sighted (political, social and - as an unfortunate result - financial) times. ...also partial to "e tenebris lux" (from darkness light); additionally poignant these days, and rarely followed by allegedly greater minds than most, perhaps due to a lack of patience (or depth) and - subsequently - understanding...

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  48. "agas", damned spellchecker... apologies...

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  49. Bon temps roulez!

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    1. Well of course it's French. Please - don't be so pedantic and try to have some fun. "Let the good times roll, baby!"

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  50. Carpe Diem My school's (Mercyhurst University ) motto !

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  51. Primus inter pares, meaning "first among equals".

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  52. I was lucky enough to have the same motto for boarding school and undergrad: Lux Et Veritas

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  53. "Pax et Bonum" or Peace and Good!

    A favorite around St. Bonaventure University!

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  54. Ancora imparo - Still I am learning

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  55. De opresso liber - to free the oppressed. US Army Special Forces' motto.

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  56. Res ipsa loquitur (but not in the strictly legal sense: i.e., a case of negligence)

    'The thing speaks for itself'

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  57. Dominic Ac Foris school motto at home and abroad

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