What are some commonly used Latin idioms or phrases?
I am writing speeches for this one character in my fiction. The character is highly educated and he likes to throws in Latin phrases here and there for effect. I know very limited Latin. (res ipsa loquitur, anyone?) Please help.
P.S. Even better would be phrases used in speeches by Cicero, Julius Caesar, and any of the old Roman leaders. Please don’t give me the whole speech, however, as I won’t be able to understand it. Please just include the relevant phrase.
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24 Answers
carpe diem seize the day It was the catchphrase of Robin Williams’ character in Dead Poets Society
ad nauseam to the point of nausea I find myself using the phrase a lot
Sic transit gloria mundi – Thus passed the glory of the world
Tu es Petrus – You are Peter
Dies Irae – Day of Wrath
alea iacta est – the die is cast
Pax vobiscum – peace be with you
This question that I asked a couple weeks ago might have some ideas for you.
Mens rea – guilty mind (that means that a person who commits a crime knew what they were doing was wrong; people who don’t know right from wrong can’t be charged with a criminal offence.)
Mens sana in corpore sano – popularly translated as “A healthy mind in a healthy body”.
Sic semper tyrannus – “Thus always to tyrants.” Supposedly Brutus said this upon dealing Caesar with the last stab and John Wilkes Booth the bastard most definitely said it as he jumped from the box where he’d assassinated President Lincoln.
They’re not often used, but many educated people have come across these phrases in their reading.
And everybody knows etc. = et cetera – “and so on”
Oh! MGM, the movie studio, their motto is Ars gratia artis, “Art for art’s sake”.
e.g. = exemplia gratia (for example) and
i.e. = id est (that is)
And it pisses me off to see them used nearly interchangeably by writers who should know better, etc.
etc. = et cetera (and so forth)
et al. = et alii = and others (I think… I should look that one up. Thanks, @Brian1946. Very helpful.)
Cum grano salis
Ad hoc
Ad hominem
Arma virumque cano
De gustibus non disputandum est
De mortuis nil nisi bonum
My personal favorites:
per aspera ad astra (through hardships to the stars);
homo homini lupus est (man is a wolf to [his fellow] man);
scientia potentia est (knowledge is power).
I also like “Gaudeamus igitur“, a popular academic song performed at university graduation ceremonies. Many years ago I knew it by heart!
Illegitimi non carborundum Don’t let the bastards wear you down.
Ars longa, vita brevis- Art is long, life is short
Veni, vidi, vici: I came, I saw, I conquered.
Mea culpa: my mistake, or my fault.
Modus operandi: method of operation.
Living la vida loca, sorry :)
*Crossing the Rubicon” – It’s not Latin, rather a reference to a no-going-back moment that Julius Caesar made when he entered Italy with his army (by crossing the River Rubicon which separated Italy from Cisalpine Gaul). In doing so,he ignited a civil war which he subsequently won. As he crossed, he supposedly said “Alea iacta est” (“the die has been cast”)
Man, how could we be forgetting semper fidelis, the motto of the US Marine Corps? “Always faithful.”
And semper paratus, the motto of the US Coast Guard? “Always ready.”
“Nullius In Verba” – Take Nobody’s Word For It (the motto of the Royal Society)
Post hoc ergo propter hoc
(after that therefore because of that)
“the logical fallacy of believing that temporal succession implies a causal relation”
cum laude (and magna cum/summa cum)
with honor (with great honor/greatest honor)
In vino veritas: “In wine, truth” = People are more likely to tell the truth when they’re drunk, supposedly.
Pro bono
In vitro
Vox populi <——- That one loosing momentum.
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