# I'm learning Latin......and I want to swear in it as well... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 12, 2005, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-learning-latin-and-i-want-to-swear-in-it-as-well/284346 "2005-01-12T05:04:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2005, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-learning-latin-and-i-want-to-swear-in-it-as-well/284346/21 "2005-01-13T04:03:41Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE squash the freaking semper ubi sub ubi IDIOTS any time you run across one. It does NOT mean always wear underwear. The proper word for underwear is subligare. :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: **aruvqan** , I believe that’s supposed to be a joke; the words, literally and in order, mean “always where under where,” which sounds like “always wear underwear.” Granted, it’s not much of a joke, but the joke is precisely that it _doesn’t_ mean that; it just sounds like it when amateurishly translated. I’ve heard many people repeat that joke (which tells you the kind of rock stars I hang out with), and I’m pretty sure they all knew that it didn’t really mean “always wear underwear.” My contribution to the discussion: My college Latin prof (12 years ago) told us that “stercus” means “shit,” as in the interjection. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-learning-latin-and-i-want-to-swear-in-it-as-well/284346/22 "2005-01-14T07:10:31Z")
Thanks. This thread has been quite helpful. I wonder if I can phase out English Swearing in favor of Latin Swearing… _Goes off to try to build the phrase “Paris Hilton is a stupid Cunnus”_ ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-learning-latin-and-i-want-to-swear-in-it-as-well/284346/23 "2005-01-14T13:05:03Z")
> [@lizardling](#): > > :eek: > > When I took Latin in school, we never knew he could get that earthy! All I remember of Catullus was that he wrote poems to Lesbia (?) and a bunch of funeral poetry. Certainly not stuff like this. > > Wow. You’d think he’d have been able to figure out what the problem was from her name! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helen_s_Eidolon)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-learning-latin-and-i-want-to-swear-in-it-as-well/284346/24 "2005-01-14T13:11:35Z")
I am ashamed to admit that, when translating for my Advanced Latin class, the only way I remember what ‘semper’ means is by remembering that phrase. ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-learning-latin-and-i-want-to-swear-in-it-as-well/284346/25 "2005-01-14T15:02:34Z")
irrumator=cocksucker ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-learning-latin-and-i-want-to-swear-in-it-as-well/284346/26 "2005-01-14T16:04:50Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE squash the freaking semper ubi sub ubi IDIOTS any time you run across one. It does NOT mean always wear underwear. The proper word for underwear is subligare. :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: Actually, “subligare” is “to link beneath,” often used idiomatically as “to wear beneath” – it’s an infinitive verb, not a noun. _Subligaculum_ is the word for “loincloth” and would probably be neo-Latin for tighty whities. _Semper subligate subligacula_ would literally be “Always wear underwear” (in the plural, at least). ---
**Author:** ![Telperien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Telperien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperien)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-learning-latin-and-i-want-to-swear-in-it-as-well/284346/27 "2005-01-14T23:17:26Z")
> [@KidCharlemagne](#): > > irrumator=cocksucker Isn’t fellator actually “cocksucker,” while irrumator=suckee? ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2005, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-learning-latin-and-i-want-to-swear-in-it-as-well/284346/28 "2005-01-15T00:28:38Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > _Semper subligate subligacula_ would literally be “Always wear underwear” (in the plural, at least). There’s a joke somewhere in there about underwear and distress signals, but given the subject matter I am not going to attempt aaaaaaaanything. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2005, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-learning-latin-and-i-want-to-swear-in-it-as-well/284346/29 "2005-01-15T02:28:59Z")
> [@iampunha](#): > > There’s a joke somewhere in there about underwear and distress signals, but given the subject matter I am not going to attempt aaaaaaaanything. No, for a wonder (given the thread topic and location) it was a “straight” post, trying to give the semi-literal Latin for which _semper ubi sub ubi_ (which I always hear as …sub-booby ;)) is the sophomoric pun. ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2005, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-learning-latin-and-i-want-to-swear-in-it-as-well/284346/30 "2005-01-15T02:40:15Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > (which I always hear as …sub-booby ;)) That’s a different kind of underwear;) ---
**Author:** ![umop\_ap\_sdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/dbc845/32.png) [@umop\_ap\_sdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/umop_ap_sdn)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2005, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-learning-latin-and-i-want-to-swear-in-it-as-well/284346/31 "2005-01-15T06:00:46Z")
[Latin swearing](http://www.insultmonger.com/swearing/latin.htm). My favorite: “stultus est sicut stultus facit” because of the way the last word is pronounced. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2005, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-learning-latin-and-i-want-to-swear-in-it-as-well/284346/32 "2005-01-15T06:30:45Z")
> [@umop ap!sdn](#): > > [Latin swearing](http://www.insultmonger.com/swearing/latin.htm). > > My favorite: “stultus est sicut stultus facit” because of the way the last word is pronounced. 😃 I don’t know. I kind of like this one. “Canis matrem tuam subagiget” I wonder how many stabbings in ancient rome were sparked by that insult. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-learning-latin-and-i-want-to-swear-in-it-as-well/284346.md?page=1)