Thursday, April 30, 2009

pridie Kal. Mai.

MEMORĀBILE DICTŪ

Ō tempora, ō mōrēs!
“O, the times, o, the customs!” (Cicero, Against Catiline 1.1)

Cicero exclaimed these words in perhaps his most famous speech, in which he denounced Catiline—Lūcius Sergius Catilīna—for having conspired to overthrow the Roman republic.

From Latin for the New Millennium

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

a.d. IV Kal. Mai.

Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers now tweets.

Friday, April 24, 2009

a.d. VIII Kal. Mai.

nausea n., pl. nauseas [L. from Gk. nausiē sea-sickness.] 1. A feeling of discomfort which often results in vomiting. 2. Extreme disgust. Loathing. The desire for change of government is generally prompted by nausea with prevailing socioeconomic and political conditions.

From Word Dictionary of Foreign Expressions

Thursday, April 23, 2009

a.d. IX Kal. Mai.

Lupus hiat.
-Aesop's Fables

From Laura Gibbs' book, Aesop's Fables in Latin.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

a.d. X Kal. Mai.

MEMORĀBILE DICTŪ

Melius in umbrā pugnābimus!
“We will fight better in the shade!” (Frontinus, Stratagems, 4)

When King Xerxes of Persia invaded Greece in 480 bce, he was defeated by the Athenians both on the sea and then on land. But this would not have occurred so quickly if not for the Spartan king Leonidas. Warned that the Persians would shoot so many arrows that they would blot out the sunlight, Leonidas replied with this phrase. His tiny band of men held off the Persians in Thermopylae’s narrow pass, until an informant showed the Persians a path behind the Greeks’ position. Surrounded, the three hundred Spartans died, fighting to the last man.

From Latin for the New Millennium

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

a.d. XI Kal. Mai.

in flagrante delicto
Literal translation: in a burning crime
More common meaning: caught in the act, caught red-handed

In an English sentence: The thief was caught in flagrante delicto.
Flagrante means “burning.” It is the root of the English word “flagrant,” which means
“shockingly noticeable.” Delicto means “crime.”

From Elizabeth Heimbach's book Latin Everywhere, Everyday

Thursday, April 16, 2009

a.d. XVI Kal. Mai.

jus et fraus numquam cohabitant. [L. jus right, law (1); et and (2); fraus fraud (3); numquam never (4); cohabitant live/dwell together (5): Right and fraud never live together.] Law. Justice and deceit never coexist. See fraus et jus etc. and jus est norma etc.

From Word Dictionary of Foreign Expressions

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

a.d. XVII Kal. Mai.

Falsum in uno, falsum in toto.
-Aesop's Fables

From Laura Gibbs' book, Aesop's Fables in Latin.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

a.d. XVIII Kal. Mai.

MEMORĀBILE DICTŪ

Ōdī et amō.
“I hate and I love.” (Catullus, 85)

The Roman poet Catullus wrote these contradictory words in line one of poem 85 to express his conflicted and painful feelings about his beloved

From Latin for the New Millennium

Thursday, April 09, 2009

a.d. V Id. Apr.

ipso facto
Literal translation: by the fact itself
More common meaning: by that very fact

In an English sentence: The student’s outstanding grade point average qualified her,
ipso facto, to serve as the valedictorian of the graduating class.

Facto is a form of factum, the Latin word for “fact” or “deed.”

From Elizabeth Heimbach's book Latin Everywhere, Everyday

Wednesday, April 08, 2009

a.d. VI Id. Apr.

Homo proponid, sed deus disponit.
-Aesop's Fables

From Laura Gibbs' book, Aesop's Fables in Latin.

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

a.d. VII Id. Apr.

Quod verum, tutum.
–Anonymous