# 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:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**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 17, 2011, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-pronounce-dictum-meum-pactum/606374/21 "2011-12-17T20:10:06Z")
> [@Polerius](#): > > Is it may-oom or meh-oom? I assume the latter, but not sure. > > I would pronounce it like [this](http://soundkey.com/bhltaa). Meh. 🙂 ---
**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, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-pronounce-dictum-meum-pactum/606374/22 "2011-12-17T21:25:42Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Neither “oom” nor “um” has an unambiguous pronunciation, so your frustration is misplaced. Okay. I hadn’t thought that through. ---
**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 18, 2011, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-pronounce-dictum-meum-pactum/606374/23 "2011-12-18T04:01:31Z")
> [@j666](#): > > 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 I like this post very much. Nava and Rhythmdvl, “trust me” is pretty close. I guess it means the same in slang as it does in Latin, which is, ‘my word is my bond’. In black American slang, though, it is an extremely common saying, not just when we want to make someone trust our word on a serious matter, but even on trivial matters. Of course, many people just say, “word”. My slang toasts are mostly tongue in cheek with my two good friends, because I know I’m not bi-lingual like they are, (actually, one of them is actually a polyglot). So, I just like to try to find more ‘exotic’ ways of delivering my toasts. Last weekend, I said, “As we travel the road of life, we can take the path of peace. If we choose the path of war, we cannot lament our fate. Or as we say in the hood, 'don’t start none, won’t be none.” ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2011, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-pronounce-dictum-meum-pactum/606374/24 "2011-12-18T04:36:04Z")
That would translate beautifully into Latin, with a chiasmus, maybe … ---
**Author:** ![Polerius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d78d45/32.png) [@Polerius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polerius)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2011, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-pronounce-dictum-meum-pactum/606374/25 "2011-12-18T18:44:21Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > [QUOTE=Gary T] > Sigh. It’s still not “oom,” it’s “um.” Neither “oom” nor “um” has an unambiguous pronunciation, so your frustration is misplaced. [/QUOTE] This is why I have always thought that recording how you say it is infinitely better than using a written explanation. The written explanation will always be ambiguous since the word one uses to explain how a certain sound is made is not pronounced the same by everyone. ---
**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 18, 2011, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-pronounce-dictum-meum-pactum/606374/26 "2011-12-18T18:49:54Z")
Unless you use I.P.A. Which was created for the very purpose of unambiguously transcribing pronunciation. ---
**Author:** ![Polerius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d78d45/32.png) [@Polerius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polerius)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2011, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-pronounce-dictum-meum-pactum/606374/27 "2011-12-18T19:30:57Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Unless you use I.P.A. Which was created for the very purpose of unambiguously transcribing pronunciation. Good point, but the general public isn’t familiar with how the various symbols sounds, so people on messageboards end up saying stuff like “ay” as in “Sunday”. It would be good if there was a program or website where you could paste a sequence of IPA symbols into it and get the corresponding sound out. ---
**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:** [December 19, 2011, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-pronounce-dictum-meum-pactum/606374/28 "2011-12-19T10:27:00Z")
> [@Polerius](#): > > Is it may-oom or meh-oom? I assume the latter, but not sure. > > I would pronounce it like [this](http://soundkey.com/bhltaa). Strictly speaking, the classical pronunciation would replace the final m with a nasalization of the vowel, or with a consonant assimilated with the first consonant of the following word. As much as I’m a stickler in general for reconstructed classical pronunciation, I personally don’t follow this m-cauda rule, but I try to keep aware of it and will nasalize the vowel before m without actually dropping the m. The e in _meum_ is short, like the e in _bet_. But a vowel followed by another vowel forces a certain coarticulation that generally results in sticking a y-like sound between them. The upshot is that your version is spot on, _per mē_. ---
**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 19, 2011, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-pronounce-dictum-meum-pactum/606374/29 "2011-12-19T23:27:02Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > What does “word is bond” mean in non-slang? That you can be so sure of what I say (my word) that you could treat it like a legal contract (bond). When used after a statement, it is a positive affirmation, akin to saying “I promise” or “I swear.” When used more generally, it is a proclamation that the person is trustworthy and dependable. And when _meum_ is changed to _nostrum_, it’s a declaration of friendship–that we never need to lie to each other. Note though that one’s word does not necessarily mean everything you say, but merely everything you say you will do. Thus little white lies that do not involve such are considered okay. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-pronounce-dictum-meum-pactum/606374.md?page=1)