# Again with the Bad Latin **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 20, 2012, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-bad-latin/616359 "2012-03-20T23:35:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2012, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-bad-latin/616359/1 "2012-03-20T23:35:42Z")
Probably not worth a pit thread, but once again I am disappointed at a TV writer’s refusal to pick up a phone and call somebody who actually knows Latin. A recent episode of American Dad featured an old man casting a curse with these words: “Ingredior in meus calceus quod vos mos agnosco!” I had trouble working out what these words were even supposed to be, because they weren’t pronounced by any recognizable English standard, much less an actual Latin one. But googling around I was able to find translators that give more or less this exact wrong translation. What they mean to say, reading just by the vocabulary used, “Walk in my shoes and you will understand.” What it actually says is more like “I, my shoes, walk in what you people I, morals, come to recognize.” What they want is more like “Ambulā in calceōs meōs ut morēs meōs intellegās.” Just call somebody, for crapping out loud. It’s not that hard. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2012, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-bad-latin/616359/2 "2012-03-20T23:42:34Z")
Since Harry Potter always uses proper Latin for its spells (Oculus Reparo!), I was appalled that in that one HP parody episode AD did not take the same care. “Lavete las manos” does not show up in any Latin dictionary! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2012, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-bad-latin/616359/3 "2012-03-21T00:58:13Z")
Argh! Also, watching that scene over and over to work out what words they were mispronouncing was wasted, since they are spoken much more clearly later in the episode. Damn you, Seth McFarlane! I curse you with never being able to think up a new joke. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2012, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-bad-latin/616359/4 "2012-03-21T01:06:46Z")
Also, the episode “Elvish language” that Steve helps Stan decipher is really just Japanese. IIRC Hiragana to be precise. It’s a wonder Toshi didn’t pick up on that. But this kind of thing is rather common. See also [Dog Latin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_Latin). For a twist, see [this clip](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbI-fDzUJXI) from _Life of Brian_. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2012, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-bad-latin/616359/5 "2012-03-21T02:03:24Z")
But the Life of Brian clip is making fun of bad attempts at Latin, but its corrections are almost correct. 1. The accusative is used for motion-toward, not the locative, which is used place-where 2. If the locative were required, the locative of _domus_ is _domī_. I’ve heard this scene talked about many times among Latin enthusiasts without anybody pointing out these mistakes. At least they wrote the scene with some knowledge of what they were talking about, apparently from some experience of being boxed in the ears by schoolmasters. Also, Dog Latin is a kind of metalinguistic wordplay. Jamming something you want to say into an online translator and presenting the results is something altogether different. Call it, perhaps, Bitch Latin? ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2012, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-bad-latin/616359/6 "2012-03-21T02:19:12Z")
Wikipedia credits Cleese with that scene, who studied Latin in school. ---
**Author:** ![Adf1992](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b782af/32.png) [@Adf1992](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Adf1992)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-bad-latin/616359/7 "2013-01-11T07:14:25Z")
Lavate las manos is wash your hands in Spanish. It was a ongoing joke in the episode since Roger dumps Steven at “Hogwarts” aka meth house full of Latinos. Lol ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2013, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-bad-latin/616359/8 "2013-01-11T07:53:43Z")
> [@Johnny\_Angel](#): > > Argh! Also, watching that scene over and over to work out what words they were mispronouncing was wasted, since they are spoken much more clearly later in the episode. Damn you, Seth McFarlane! I curse you with never being able to think up a new joke. Too late! ---
**Author:** ![Zacharydobbin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/aeb1de/32.png) [@Zacharydobbin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zacharydobbin)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2013, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-bad-latin/616359/9 "2013-01-12T07:29:37Z")
The lurking horror Steve was speaking Spanish it means wash your hands:mad: ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2013, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-bad-latin/616359/10 "2013-01-12T07:47:47Z")
Double woosh. And if that’s the only thing you guys took issue with, does that mean that oculus reparo looks fine to you? ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2013, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-bad-latin/616359/11 "2013-01-12T09:30:04Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Since Harry Potter always uses proper Latin for its spells (Oculus Reparo!), I was appalled that in that one HP parody episode AD did not take the same care. “Lavete las manos” does not show up in any Latin dictionary! “Expelliarmus!” :dubious: It would be “Oculum reparo!” if it were proper Latin, unless you’re trying to say “I, the Eye, restore”; “oculus” is the subject of the phrase, not the thing being restored. Let’s not give Rowling more credit than she merits. ---
**Author:** ![Tiziano.fantuzzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/50afbb/32.png) [@Tiziano.fantuzzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tiziano.fantuzzi)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2018, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-bad-latin/616359/12 "2018-04-09T19:09:39Z")
it reads like “i step back in my shoes, for i know your manners” ---
**Author:** ![Tiziano.fantuzzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/50afbb/32.png) [@Tiziano.fantuzzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tiziano.fantuzzi)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2018, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-bad-latin/616359/13 "2018-04-09T19:16:30Z")
> [@Tiziano.fantuzzi](#): > > it reads like “i step back in my shoes, for i know your manners” if it was to be like suggested in the movies, it would be like “ingredere meos calceos si mores meos agnoscere velles” ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2018, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-bad-latin/616359/14 "2018-04-09T19:44:40Z")
Ooooh! A Latin war! That the thread is five years old means nothing when talking Latin. I have no cites, but I assume some arguments have been going on for two thousand years. ---
**Author:** ![purple\_cow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b487fb/32.png) [@purple\_cow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purple_cow)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2018, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-bad-latin/616359/15 "2018-04-09T20:49:30Z")
I remember once in the Economist, a writer turned the latin phrase “E pluribus unum” (out of many, one) into the opposite (out of one, many; sorry i dont remember the latin). The next week the magazine published five messages in the letters section. Each letter had a long list of the person’s latin language credentials, followed by their corrected version of the proper latin phrase for out of one, many. All five came up with different phrases. My favorite part was that the magazine didn’t comment in any way. Just printed five letters of people saying they knew better than the writer, and letting the reader notice that at least four of them were wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2018, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-bad-latin/616359/16 "2018-04-09T22:55:18Z")
Illegitimi non carborundum! (yes, I know) ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2018, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-bad-latin/616359/17 "2018-04-09T23:57:14Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Ooooh! A Latin war! That the thread is five years old means nothing when talking Latin. I have no cites, but I assume some arguments have been going on for two thousand years. That’s nothing: The argument over proper Indo-European has been going on since those nice horsemen lost all their pretty asterisks. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2018, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-bad-latin/616359/18 "2018-04-10T01:01:35Z")
> [@Johnny\_Angel](#): > > Probably not worth a pit thread, but once again I am disappointed at a TV writer’s refusal to pick up a phone and call somebody who actually knows Latin. A recent episode of American Dad featured an old man casting a curse with these words: > > “Ingredior in meus calceus quod vos mos agnosco!” > > I had trouble working out what these words were even supposed to be, because they weren’t pronounced by any recognizable English standard, much less an actual Latin one. But googling around I was able to find translators that give more or less this exact wrong translation. > > What they mean to say, reading just by the vocabulary used, “Walk in my shoes and you will understand.” What it actually says is more like “I, my shoes, walk in what you people I, morals, come to recognize.” > > What they want is more like “Ambulā in calceōs meōs ut morēs meōs intellegās.” Just call somebody, for crapping out loud. It’s not that hard. It’s not a “mistake.” They do it deliberately, out of concern for public safety. It’s like how the bomb recipes in _Fight Club_ don’t work, because the filmmakers didn’t want people watching the film then going out and building real bombs. You got to mess up the Latin a little bit when you put spells into movies, otherwise people will run out and start using magic all willy-nilly. I mean, that’s literally what caused the fall of the Roman empire in the first place: people couldn’t have a normal, everyday conversation without accidentally cursing twelve people, parting the Bosphorus, and turning the cat inside out. Julius: Nice weather for fishing! \ Marcus: Good job, asshole! Now it’s raining fucking fish! \ Julius: Well, that’s not much of an improvement, is it? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2018, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-bad-latin/616359/19 "2018-04-10T02:08:53Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Julius: Nice weather for fishing! > \ > Marcus: Good job, asshole! Now it’s raining fucking fish! > \ > Julius: Well, that’s not much of an improvement, is it? If the falling fish are fucking, does that mean it’s raining caviar? ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2018, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-bad-latin/616359/20 "2018-04-10T06:03:30Z")
> [@purple\_cow](#): > > I remember once in the Economist, a writer turned the latin phrase “E pluribus unum” (out of many, one) into the opposite (out of one, many; sorry i dont remember the latin). The next week the magazine published five messages in the letters section. Each letter had a long list of the person’s latin language credentials, followed by their corrected version of the proper latin phrase for out of one, many. All five came up with different phrases. My favorite part was that the magazine didn’t comment in any way. Just printed five letters of people saying they knew better than the writer, and letting the reader notice that at least four of them were wrong. Al Gore (or his speechwriter) did that in January 1994. [The New Americans: How the Melting Pot Can Work Again - Michael Barone - Google Books](https://books.google.com/books?id=xIqj5JbxmIsC&lpg=PA1&dq=al%20gore%20%22out%20of%20one%20many%22&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q=al%20gore%20%22out%20of%20one%20many%22&f=false) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/again-with-the-bad-latin/616359.md?page=2)