# Help me pronounce "dictum meum pactum" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 16, 2011, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-pronounce-dictum-meum-pactum/606374 "2011-12-16T03:38:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-pronounce-dictum-meum-pactum/606374/1 "2011-12-16T03:38:00Z")
I need to know that I am saying the phrase “dictum meum pactum” correctly. Is it: dicktum meeyum packtum? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-pronounce-dictum-meum-pactum/606374/2 "2011-12-16T03:43:41Z")
deek-toom may-oom pahk-toom ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-pronounce-dictum-meum-pactum/606374/3 "2011-12-16T03:46:02Z")
Jesus christ, I would have made a fool of myself. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-pronounce-dictum-meum-pactum/606374/4 "2011-12-16T03:50:37Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > Jesus christ, I would have made a fool of myself. Thanks. I should footnote that with “As I remember from high school Latin 20-odd years ago”. Might want to wait for someone who’s surer than I am. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-pronounce-dictum-meum-pactum/606374/5 "2011-12-16T04:14:38Z")
**jayjay** ’s rendering looks good; however, this is a complex topic muddled by the fact there are not only two similar but different schools of thought, depending on the context, but that some Latin words and phrases are terms of art which are essentially part of the mainstream language (in this case, English) and are pronounced as such. In short: Lawyers and doctors don’t pronounce their Latin in an imitation of Cicero; neither do English-speaking historians use the (perhaps better historically justified) “kee-KER-oh” pronunciation of that name, they all use the more Anglicized “SIS-uh-roh”. [Here is a simple guide on pronouncing Latin in a generally scholarly fashion.](http://www.preces-latinae.org/thesaurus/Introductio/Pronunciatio.html) ---
**Author:** ![dzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f9b8f/32.png) [@dzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dzero)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-pronounce-dictum-meum-pactum/606374/6 "2011-12-16T04:15:14Z")
I think it depends on whether you want that with a Roman or Medieval accent. I’m not being a smart ass, I’m pretty sure pronunciation is significantly different. Just don’t ask me for any specifics. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-pronounce-dictum-meum-pactum/606374/7 "2011-12-16T04:23:06Z")
> [@dzero](#): > > I think it depends on whether you want that with a Roman or Medieval accent. > > I’m not being a smart ass, I’m pretty sure pronunciation is significantly different. Just don’t ask me for any specifics. Well, if we wish to get truly philological on this thing’s ass, we could probably distinguish among the various periods of Rome’s existence, Republic and Empire, and dig up evidence about how things were pronounced over that multi-century span. Anyway, the distinction I think you’re referring to is the distinction between Classical and Ecclesiastical pronunciations, which are, respectively, how we think things were pronounced near the end of Late Antiquity, and how the Roman Catholic Church traditionally taught priests to pronounce the Latin used in mass and so on, which is closer to Italian. [Relevant Wikipedia article.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_spelling_and_pronunciation) ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-pronounce-dictum-meum-pactum/606374/8 "2011-12-16T16:12:03Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > I need to know that I am saying the phrase “dictum meum pactum” correctly. > > Is it: > > dicktum meeyum packtum? Consonants as in English. “I” like the “i” in _hit_. “U” like the “u” in _put_. “E” like the “a” in _game_ (just slightly clipped, not drawn out). “A” like the “a” in _father_. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-pronounce-dictum-meum-pactum/606374/9 "2011-12-16T16:23:30Z")
‘Klaa-too bah-rah-dah nick-too’ Make sure you say them when you remove the book. It’s very important. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-pronounce-dictum-meum-pactum/606374/10 "2011-12-16T17:56:01Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > deek-toom may-oom pahk-toom That gets my vote. The OP’s pronunciation could be used for the first and last words, but you definitely want “may-um”, not “mee-um”. The latter sounds like fake American Indian accent. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-pronounce-dictum-meum-pactum/606374/11 "2011-12-16T18:49:50Z")
Thanks everyone. Lemme share a lil’ story… I often have drinks with two friends. One is Argentinian and Hebrew, the other is West Indian. When we do toasts, each of us has to say our toast in our native tongues, and then translate. (my “native tongue” being slang. Heh.) So, I wanted to surprise them this time and translate from Latin to slang (word is bond). They are going to laugh their heads off. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-pronounce-dictum-meum-pactum/606374/12 "2011-12-16T19:52:43Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > deek-toom may-oom pahk-toom > [@John\_Mace](#): > > That gets my vote. I’m sorry, but no. The “ooh” sound (like the “u” in _rude_) is for a Latin long “u.” The "u"s in _dictum_ and _pactum_ are short, pronounced like the “u” in _put_. ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-pronounce-dictum-meum-pactum/606374/13 "2011-12-16T20:02:36Z")
According to my high school Latin teacher, it would’ve been “dick-tum, may-um, pack-tum”. I think. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-pronounce-dictum-meum-pactum/606374/14 "2011-12-16T21:25:40Z")
> [@FinnAgain](#): > > According to my high school Latin teacher, it would’ve been > “dick-tum, may-um, pack-tum”. > > I think. Well, if the u is the u in put, and not in cut, and the a is closer to the o in cot. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2011, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-pronounce-dictum-meum-pactum/606374/15 "2011-12-17T15:04:06Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > Thanks everyone. Lemme share a lil’ story… > > I often have drinks with two friends. One is Argentinian and Hebrew, the other is West Indian. When we do toasts, each of us has to say our toast in our native tongues, and then translate. (my “native tongue” being slang. Heh.) > > So, I wanted to surprise them this time and translate from Latin to slang (word is bond). They are going to laugh their heads off. What does “word is bond” mean in non-slang? ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2011, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-pronounce-dictum-meum-pactum/606374/16 "2011-12-17T15:08:47Z")
Trust me? ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2011, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-pronounce-dictum-meum-pactum/606374/17 "2011-12-17T15:38:31Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > Thanks everyone. Lemme share a lil’ story… > > I often have drinks with two friends. One is Argentinian and Hebrew, the other is West Indian. When we do toasts, each of us has to say our toast in our native tongues, and then translate. (my “native tongue” being slang. Heh.) > > So, I wanted to surprise them this time and translate from Latin to slang (word is bond). They are going to laugh their heads off. In that case, it doesn’t matter. And if anyone does argue with your pronunciation, just ask if they’re using the scholarly or liturgical pronunciation. If THAT doesn’t shut them, invent an article you just read that is challenging former theories. That toast means **your** word is your bond. “Noster” would be “our”, “nostrum” in this case. That would imply a single agreement between the three of you. Dicta nostra pacta might mean that all of you, as individuals, are people of honor. I like the use of the gerund for say, rather than the more obvious noun ---
**Author:** ![Polerius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d78d45/32.png) [@Polerius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polerius)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2011, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-pronounce-dictum-meum-pactum/606374/18 "2011-12-17T17:47:54Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > deek-toom may-oom pahk-toom Is it may-oom or meh-oom? I assume the latter, but not sure. I would pronounce it like [this](http://soundkey.com/bhltaa). ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2011, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-pronounce-dictum-meum-pactum/606374/19 "2011-12-17T19:04:50Z")
> [@Polerius](#): > > Is it may-oom or meh-oom? I assume the latter, but not sure. Sigh. **It’s still not “oom,”** it’s “um.” Like in posts # 8, 12, & 13/14. Like in the link you provided below. Now, as for “may” _vs._ “meh,” it’s in between, sort of a half-long “a,” but a bit closer to “ay” than to “eh.” Again, like in the link below. > [@](#): > > I would pronounce it like [this](http://soundkey.com/bhltaa). Now you’re talking! That’s got it right. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2011, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-pronounce-dictum-meum-pactum/606374/20 "2011-12-17T19:39:20Z")
> [@Gary\_T](#): > > Sigh. **It’s still not “oom,”** it’s “um.” Neither “oom” nor “um” has an unambiguous pronunciation, so your frustration is misplaced. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-pronounce-dictum-meum-pactum/606374.md?page=2)