Limes with Orange

My friend Brian used the phrase inter alia in an email recently and I didn't know what it meant! So I surfed over to Wikipedia to find the meaning: "Among other things" (hmm... that almost sounds like I went to find the meaning and other stuff, but just to be clear, "among other things" is the translation). I thought it a handy sort of phrase, so while I was there I decided to pull out some other Latin phrases and proverbs that appealed to me:

Ad absurdum: "To absurdity" — Taken to an absurd extreme (in logic).

Alea iacta est: "The die has been cast" — said by Julius Caesar after his decision to defy Roman law by crossing the Rubicon with his troops.

Coito ergo sum: "I have sex, therefore I am" (a pun on Cogito ergo sum: "I think, therefore I am").

Deus ex machina: "A god from a machine" — a contrived or artificial solution, usually to a literary plot. Refers to the practice in Greek drama of lowering by machine an actor playing Zeus onto the stage — as though he were descending from Olympus — to resolve an awkward plot. [aka Something I try to avoid using in my writing.]

Draco dormiens numquam titillandus: "Never tickle a sleeping dragon" — Motto of Hogwarts School in the Harry Potter novels by J. K. Rowling.

Ex astris, Scientia: "From the stars, Knowledge" (the motto of the Apollo 13 Mission, later becomes the motto of the fictional Starfleet Academy in Star Trek).

Lapsus linguae: "A slip of the tongue."

Multum in parvo: "Much in little" — e.g., "Latin phrases are often multum in parvo, because they convey much in few words."

Ne plus ultra (also nec plus ultra, non plus ultra): "nothing more beyond" literally, but figuratively it is a descriptive phrase meaning the best or most extreme example of something. The Pillars of Hercules, for example, were the ne plus ultra (in the literal sense) of the ancient Mediterranean world.

Non sum qualis eram: "I am not what I once was" — I have changed.

Omnia dicta fortiora, si dicta latina: "Everything sounds more impressive when said in Latin" — Mostly used as a form of irony to poke fun at people who seem to use Latin phrases and quotes only to make themselves sound more important or "educated."

Panem et circenses: "Bread and circus plays" — coined by Juvenal to describe all that was needed for the emperors to placate the Roman mob, and today used to describe any public entertainment used to distract public attention from more important matters. [Though not romantic in itself, this phrase reminded me of a romantic Spanish proverb: Contigo, pan y cebolla, "With you, bread and onion." Basically meaning "I would go anywhere with you, even if we could only eat bread and onions."]

Pons asinorum: "Bridge of asses" — Any obstacle that stupid people find hard to cross, originally used of Euclid's Fifth Proposition in geometry.

Post hoc, ergo propter hoc: "After this, therefore because of this" — a logical fallacy in which sequence and cause are confused. [Also the title of an episode of The West Wing.]

Quid pro quo: "This for that" or "A thing for a thing" — i.e., in english, a favor for a favor. [aka The phrase that I used a couple times in emails while internet dating that caused the recipients to ask if I was a lawyer, as if only lawyers use Latin... no actual dates were had with the men in question.]

Res ipsa loquitur: "The thing speaks for itself" — a phrase from the common law of torts that means negligence can be inferred from the fact that such an accident happened, without proof of exactly how.

Res ipsa loquitur, sed quid in infernos dicit?: "The thing speaks for itself, but what the hell does it say?" — a sarcastic pseudo-Latin commentary on res ipsa loquitur, reminding the listener that we must still interpret the significance of events that "speak for themselves".

Vox clamantis in deserto: "The voice of one shouting in the desert" — thus "unheeded", "in vain." [I thought this one was wonderfully poetic.]

And if that's not enough for you... more Latin Quotes & Phrases.

Labels: language