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Handy Latin Phrases to Impress Your Friends
Over in the PIT lately, there have been a lot of showoffs dropping Latin phrases all over the place just to make Protestants and people who never took Latin feel inferior. But you don’t have to feel inferior anymore because I am here to help. In my never-ending efforts to make everyone’s lives happier, I have compiled a handy list of common Latin phrases with their English translations. Now you, too can attend any cocktail party or fancy event with confidence!
<ahem, ahem> Class, let’s begin:
Persona non grata……..Ungrateful or rude person
Carpe Diem…………………Let’s go fishing.
Ad nauseam……………….That commercial makes me sick.
Ad infinitum………………That commercial goes on forever.
In vino veritas…………….There’s a worm in my wine (useful in Mexico).
Tabula rasa…………………My tablet is racist.
De facto……………………….True dat!
Sic…………………………………Ill. (duh)
Ex libris………………………..Book you have already read
RightAngles delenda est……..RightAngles is delectable.
……………
You’re welcome.
Published in Humor
And, this entire post proves the point of my most favorite Latin phrase:
Quid quid latine dictum sit, altum videtur –
~ True translation: “Anything said in Latin sounds profound.”
~ Vernacular translation: “Say anything in Latin, an’ it’ll sound good…..”
Is this why lawyers use Latin so much? Just asking . . .
(“I am miserable, yet delicious.”)
Righty, I think it’s, ISIS: Non cogito, ergo BOOM.
LOL. Great post. Here’s another:
Panem et circenses…..pancakes at the circumcision.
From the movie Johnny Dangerously:
Winnie llle Pu: @basilfawlty
And we can charge even higher fees for using Latin than we can for using pompous English words! :-)
@rightangles, there are many literary favorites that are available in a Latin translation: The Cat in the Hat, Ferdinand the Bull, The Hobbit, even the first Harry Potter. Amazon has many if not all.
Additionally, a free resource that I use to keep in practice is Radio Finland’s news of the week in Latin, Nuntii Latini.
And don’t forget about the Ricochet group dedicated to bantering in Latin or about Latin: S.P.Q.Ricochet.
Never mind the French Volvos. Hercules’ bragging puts me to sleep.
Here’s a cool site; and another
Are you sending us to the Finland station?
Yes, that’s the link, although its not apparent. It’s specifically the link to their weekly news in Latin page.
Yeah, Radio Finland announce a couple of months ago that they were going to cancel their Nuntii Latini series. Fans responded to the announcement by flooding their offices with mail and email, in Latin, asking them to reconsider. They renewed the series, I think for two more years.
Thanks for the links.
This latinitium.com looks like a good site too.
Or as the fox in Pogo said after listening to a snake oil salesman, “I wonder what language the Romans used for the old twenty-four carat bamboozle.”
Greek. Seriously.
Reductio ad absurdum :
“Congress has finally cut government spending.”
De Facto
Dat’s da fact, Jack.
A posteriori – Back at ya.
You aren’t telling people who revel in your delectability to “Kiss my grits.”, are you, Righty? :-D
Gah
You already know you’re cute so I won’t swell your head any further.
I believe I said pretty.
Tomato, tomahto
Si salves salveo amici miei. Non lego, non credo? Minime. Ne istius quidem laudis ita sum cupidus ut aliis eam praereptam velim.
And that about does it for me in Latin without a refresher course. Interesting history fact: When Adinoram Judson was being held in a French prison, he was able to use what Latin he remembered to communicate with a French official who later helped him get out of prison and back en route to the mission field in Burma.
Not as interesting fiction fact: I used the idea of communicating in Latin with more than one pair of my characters in my books. In one case, it was a German with limited English and an English American. In the other case, it was two priests, one Irish and one Portuguese.