# Need some dog Latin **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 8, 2008, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-some-dog-latin/455733 "2008-07-08T19:02:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-some-dog-latin/455733/1 "2008-07-08T19:02:59Z")
According to Larry Wall, the three great virtues of a computer programmer are laziness, impatience, and hubris. I want to use this as a motto for a certain project, but of course, being a motto, it has to be in fake Latin. So, what’s a plausible way of saying “laziness, impatience, hubris” in Latin? I found some words using an English-\>Latin dictionary, but of course I don’t know the differences in connotation, nor how to properly conjugate them. Candidate words: Lazy: piger, desidiosus, ignavus Impatient: (nothing) Hubris: (nothing) but I found arrogant: ferox, superbus Thanks for your help! ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-some-dog-latin/455733/2 "2008-07-08T19:52:03Z")
impatient = nonlongaminus I entered ‘patient’ into a translator, and added the non (not). ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-some-dog-latin/455733/3 "2008-07-08T19:52:44Z")
Oof-way Ark-bay. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2008, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-some-dog-latin/455733/4 "2008-07-08T22:36:04Z")
Sounds like you need IMHO. **samclem** GQ moderator ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2008, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-some-dog-latin/455733/5 "2008-07-09T15:49:38Z")
Bumpus Maximus. OK, I did some more searching with online English -\> Latin dictionaries and found some intriguing possibilities with the nounish forms: Laziness: _inertia_, _pigritia_, _ignavia_ I especially like _ignavia_ because it sounds cool. Inertia has a somewhat different connotation in English so I want to avoid that one. Impatience gets me _inpaciencia_ and _inpacienciae_ (I think the second one is the feminine form?) I like either one. It also suggested _odium_, but the connotation on that seems much closer to hatred or antipathy with impatience listed as a secondary definition. For hubris, I especially like _superbia_. Can I just stick an _et_ between the last two for “and?” ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2008, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-some-dog-latin/455733/6 "2008-07-09T16:14:25Z")
| “Sometimes I write words to songs because they sound cool to | sing. Sometimes the listener doesn’t understand what I’m singing | because I’m dedicated to singing the vowel, having fun with the | word sounds coming out of my mouth. `Cleaned a lot of plates in | Memphis, pumped a lot of pain down in New Orleans,' is a good | example. I think Tina Turner sang `tane’ instead of `pain,’ as | in a contracted form of octane. But I knew what she meant,” _Et signatia et impatientio et supurbia_. Alternatively, you can just list the nouns without any conjunctions at all. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2008, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-some-dog-latin/455733/7 "2008-07-09T16:22:26Z")
Wow, sorry about that screwup. I seem to have had a mishap with my clipboard, then missed the edit window before I noticed it. This is what I meant to post: I would go with _signatio_ for “laziness.” _Ignavia_ carries a connotation of slowness or idleness, while _signatio_ indicates more of a willful slothfulness. I would also go with either _impatientio_ or _festinatio_ for “impatience.” The former indicates an inability to endure waiting, the latter indicates excessive haste, rushing through something. As for the construction, in Latin you would start a list like this with an _et_ and then keep sticking more _ets_ between every noun, like this: _Et signatia et impatientio et supurbia_. Alternatively, you can just list the nouns without any conjunctions at all. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2008, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-some-dog-latin/455733/8 "2008-07-09T16:34:24Z")
Thanks much, **Diogenes**. I especially appreciate the help with choosing the words with the right connotation. I think I will just use a comma-separated list without the _et_s: _Signatia, Impatientio, Supurbia_ Phat.