Latin Phrases (You Can Use to Impress People)

I took two years of Latin in high school. That made my Mother happy because she thought it would be useful when I went to law school. I didn’t go to law school, but I have noticed that when I occasionally drop a Latin phrase, people notice. To show that my Latin studies were not in vain, here are six Latin phrases that I find interesting and you can use to impress people.

Tempus fugit. This translates as “time flies” and is the origin of one of my favorite sayings, “time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like bananas.”

Reductio ad absurdum. This translates as “reduction to absurdity” and is “used to disprove a statement by showing it would inevitably lead to a ridiculous, absurd, or impractical conclusion.” I first learned the phrase, not in Latin class, but in debate class, which helped convince me to not become a lawyer.

De gustibus non est disputandum.  This translates as “in matters of taste, there can be no disputes.” However, its more common interpretation is “there is no accounting for tastes.” If the intent is to not be judgmental, the phrase can be used to denote that everyone has their own preferences. The contrary implication is that of a biting insult. The phrase has gained a place in Russian literature as it has been used both by Dostoyevsky and Chekhov. There is some indication that the phrase is medieval, not Latin, but I think worthy of inclusion in this list nonetheless.

Ceteris Paribus. This translates as “other things equal” and is a common phrase in economics. It is a foundation in economists’ statistical modelling where some degree of causality is attributed to a single variable by holding the effects of all other variables constant. Of course in the real world, all other variables are never constant, and economists’ use of this phrase has no doubt fueled the observation that if you put all the economists in the world end-to-end, you still would not reach a conclusion.

Sic transit gloria mundi. This translates as “thus passes worldly glory,” or more loosely, all glory is fleeting. The phrase has a rich history in that it has been used during papal coronations as a reminder to the new pope to not let his hat get too big. Also, Roman emperors had slaves whisper it in the ears of returning conquerors to keep them in their place. A version of this latter story was popularized as a voiceover by George C. Scott during the ending scene of the movie, “Patton.” When Napoleon was reminded of the phrase, he reportedly responded, “Death is nothing, but to live defeated and inglorious is to die daily.”

Alea iacta est (also, iacta alea est). This translates as “the die is cast,” meaning there is no turning back. The phrase is attributed to Julius Caesar, who had been ensconced as the Governor of Gaul (part of France) after his Roman army had conquered the territory. After being in Gaul for nine years, he wanted to return to Italy. As Governor of Gaul, Caesar had the right to command troops there, but not in Italy. By crossing the Rubicon (the river separating Gaul and Italy) in 49 B.C., he violated Roman law, thereby committing treason and plunging Italy into civil war. Ultimately, Caesar became emperor, and the Roman Republic was replaced by the Roman Empire. Upon crossing the Rubicon, Caesar is said to have spoken the phrase in Greek, as opposed to the Latin reported here.

Little Latin Lupe Lu. Readers will recall that I like to link my blog to some piece of music from my past. This blog presented a particular challenge until I remembered one of the first albums I purchased. It was by Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels, and contained a song called “Little Latin Lupe Lu.” Lupe Lu is the singer’s girlfriend, and although I don’t know if she could speak Latin, she was obviously a knock-out dancer. The song has an interesting history because it was written by Bill Medley in 1962 and performed with his partner Bobby Hatfield before they became the Righteous Brothers. Rather than being rooted in the blues or R&B, the song was “surf” music and became the first big hit of the Righteous Brothers in 1963. In 1964, it was recorded by a Minneapolis band called The Chancellors, and the Kingsmen (Louie, Louie) recorded the song later in the same year. The Mitch Ryder version came out two years later in 1966. These groups show the evolution of rock and roll through the 1960s from clean-cut to raw. I also enjoyed learning that the song has been covered by women. An all-female band called the Heartbeats changed “she” to “he” in their release and later Chrissie Hynde did the same when she performed the song with the Pretenders. Give your computer’s search engine a workout and access all of these versions. Each is worth a listen.

 Lagniappe – Latin Phrases

Lagniappe is a phrase that is commonly used in Louisiana meaning something given unexpectedly as a bonus. I always assumed it is French, but Merriam-Webster identifies its derivation as American French from American Spanish.

On my “About” page, I express a desire to steer clear of politics. This caused me to consider excluding the Latin phrase, “alea est iacta” due to the reference to the Rubicon. You may be aware that “Rubicon” was referenced by certain individuals at events in our nation’s capital on January 6th. Nonetheless, I chose to include the phrase because I wanted to mention Jake Wood.

About a month ago, I was watching the CBS Morning Show when it aired a story about Wood. I wasn’t paying much attention until I noticed a photo of him in a UW football uniform. He played as an offensive lineman for the Badgers and graduated in 2005 with a double major in political science and real estate. Afterwards, he joined the Marines and served tours in Iraq in 2007 and Afghanistan in 2008.

After his discharge, he noticed a lack of purpose experienced by a number of returning service members. In response, he formed a nonprofit organization named Team Rubicon, which “utilizes the skills and experiences of military veterans with first responders to rapidly deploy emergency response teams … to provide immediate relief to those impacted by disasters and humanitarian crises in the U.S. and around the world.” Team Rubicon’s first “deployment” was in 2010 to the Haiti earthquake. The organization is based in Los Angeles and boasts 130,000 volunteers. Jake Wood is the author of Once a Warrior: How One Marine Veteran Found a New Mission Closer to Home.

I’ve a bit of a dilemma with regard to a musical reference. Growing up in northwest Louisiana across the Red River from Barksdale AFB, I sang “The Marines Hymn” so many times in elementary school that I still remember the words. But Jake Wood is a Badger, and doesn’t that make you want to “Jump Around?”

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