Latin Proverb of the Day

Post by **Dale** » Mon Aug 15, 2005 3:53 pm

Selected, edited, & comments by my friend Bob Patrick and hosted by yours truly at

http://www.righthandpointing.com/latin

Dale

Post by **Nanohedron** » Mon Aug 15, 2005 4:49 pm

Otia corpus alunt; animus quoque pascitur illis
(Ovid, Epistulae Ex Ponto 1.4.21)

....I will quote this whenever taken to task for my...uh...relaxed attitude regarding matters domestic.

I like the Latin Quote section, Dale.

SteveShaw · Post by **SteveShaw** » Mon Aug 15, 2005 5:25 pm

I did Latin at school and I've never regretted it. However, our Latin teacher only had one "joke," and I may get this slightly wrong, but it went something like "Caesar adsum iam forte" which apparently translates as something like...er...summat about Caesar being here and strong I think (help!) but which, when pronounced in a certain way, preferably with a strong northern English accent, seemed to be referring to the confection that Julius was enjoying at his afternoon repast... Well, the teacher enjoyed the joke anyway, judging from the belly-laugh he produced every time he told it to us (and it was told to us at not infrequent intervals...)

Steve

SteveShaw · Post by **SteveShaw** » Mon Aug 15, 2005 6:53 pm

I'm much given to quoting Latin phrases, nearly always inappropriately, to try to impress (my wife usually). "De minimis non curat lex" is one of my favourites whenever I'm being accused of something I regard as trivial. I love all those "sine qua nons," quid pro quos," "ipso factos" and, straying away from Latin, what about "ersatz," "zeitgeist" and "schadenfreude?" I love 'em! Pretentious, moi?

Steve

fel bautista · Post by **fel bautista** » Mon Aug 15, 2005 8:49 pm

I HAVE WAITED 40 YEARS for this:

Arma Virumque cano... etc

Thank you thank yoou

Martin Milner · Post by **Martin Milner** » Tue Aug 16, 2005 3:06 am

Alea iacta est.

I learnt most of my Latin phrases from the Asterix comic books. There's a moral in there somewhere.

Innocent Bystander · Post by **Innocent Bystander** » Tue Aug 16, 2005 4:21 am

What a pity he never taught you the rest of it!

Caesar adsum jam forte
Pompey aderat
Caesar sic in omnibus
Pompey sic in hat.

My favourite is "Felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas." Horace.

SteveShaw · Post by **SteveShaw** » Tue Aug 16, 2005 2:39 pm

Innocent Bystander wrote:What a pity he never taught you the rest of it!

Caesar adsum jam forte
Pompey aderat
Caesar sic in omnibus
Pompey sic in hat.

He missed out the best bits! I just remembered the Kipper Family's parody of "Gaudete" by Steeleye Span ("Awayday" was a cheap ticket you could once upon a time buy for off-peak rail travel):

(To the tune of "Gaudete")

Away day, awayday, loco in transit
Omnibus, St Pancreas, away day
Away day, awayday, loco in transit
Omnibus, St Pancreas, away day.

Cleopatra virginae, terra incognito
in loco parentis Caesar multi O Calcutta

CH

2 Troilius et Cressida, con Homo erectus
Strangulated hernia, coitus interruptus

CH

3 Romulus et Remus, in flagrante delicto
Honi soit qui mal y pense, Harry Belafonte

CH

3 Gina Lollobrigida, Osteoarthritis
In vino veritas, Peter Dominicus

CH

4 Non compos mentis, continuo ad nauseam
Ad lib, et cetera, quod erat demonstrandum

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Aug 17, 2005 5:08 pm

I hated Latin but love Greek, so I have absolutely nuttin to say here -

Except thanks for a great big laugh ...and Steve, I think you are out in orbit. PS and BTW do you by any chance play the TW?

:0)

Jack · Post by **Jack** » Wed Aug 17, 2005 5:25 pm

I also dislike Latin and love Greek, especially the alphabet.

I don't know any Greek proverbs, but here is a German one I've always liked:

Alter schützt vor Torheit nicht.

And another:

Deutsche Sprache, schwere Sprache. Very, very true! :roll:

SteveShaw · Post by **SteveShaw** » Wed Aug 17, 2005 5:41 pm

Not forgetting of course "Illegitimes non carborundum" ("don't let the b*stards grind you down...").

As for the tin whistle, I possess such beasts, but I'm only a player in the sense that 99.9% of bodhran owners are players...

Steve

BrassBlower · Post by **BrassBlower** » Wed Aug 17, 2005 8:39 pm

Si imbili si imgo
fortibuses i naro
O nobili demis trux
vadis inem caus an dux

gonzo914 · Post by **gonzo914** » Wed Aug 17, 2005 8:50 pm

BrassBlower wrote:Si imbili si imgo
fortibuses i naro
O nobili demis trux
vadis inem caus an dux

I've always loved that one -- caus an dux.

Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum viditur

And here's a fun site -- http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A218882

Jack · Post by **Jack** » Wed Aug 17, 2005 9:14 pm

To all of you who speak Latin, I wonder--how do you personally pronounce it?

When I read Latin, I always pronounce it as if it's French (ie lots of silent end letters and strange vowels). I can't help it and I don't really know why I can't "switch" to something closer to the way modern Italian is pronounced, but I just can't. I think it' might be because I never hear Latin spoken.

Post by **Dale** » Wed Aug 17, 2005 9:27 pm

I don't know, Cran. Anytime I hear latin spoken by people who really know it--it sounds pretty accent-neutral to me.

Dale

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Latin Proverb of the Day

Latin Proverb of the Day

Caesar adsum jam forte

Re: Caesar adsum jam forte