# Newsflash! Latin phrases don't make your argument stronger. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 8, 2011, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-latin-phrases-dont-make-your-argument-stronger/577704 "2011-04-08T19:25:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-latin-phrases-dont-make-your-argument-stronger/577704/61 "2011-04-11T16:59:52Z")
OP Your Ispo is all defacto And crapus excretus (yeah, I know it doesnt make any sense but I liked the sound of it…my latin teacher is spinning in the grave I am sure) ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-latin-phrases-dont-make-your-argument-stronger/577704/62 "2011-04-13T02:44:11Z")
This entire thread demonstrates the principle of _stercus accidit_. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-latin-phrases-dont-make-your-argument-stronger/577704/63 "2011-04-13T02:53:44Z")
_O sibili si ergo! Fortibus es in aro. O nobili demis trux. Watis inem? Causand dux._ ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Nader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Darth\_Nader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Nader)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-latin-phrases-dont-make-your-argument-stronger/577704/64 "2011-04-13T03:12:19Z")
_Ego sum validus insquequo terminus, quoniam ego eat meus spinach._ Yeah, those online translators aren’t quite there yet, are they? ---
**Author:** ![snowmaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e99b99/32.png) [@snowmaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowmaster)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-latin-phrases-dont-make-your-argument-stronger/577704/65 "2011-04-13T19:43:14Z")
Lorem ipsum dolar sit, altum viditur! Take that, bitches. I got nuthin. Semper ubi sub ubi? ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-latin-phrases-dont-make-your-argument-stronger/577704/66 "2011-04-13T21:50:41Z")
_Carpe scrotum._ ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-latin-phrases-dont-make-your-argument-stronger/577704/67 "2011-04-13T22:05:35Z")
_Reduction ad absurdum_, as a phrase, seems to be regularly misused on this board and elsewhere, so I can understand where the OP is coming from. I’ve seen posters use it when they really meant to point out a slippery slope fallacy. Simply labelling a claim, in order to rebuff it, as a _reductio ad absurdum_ is nonsensical. _Reductio ad absurdum_ is not a fallacy — it’s a basic principle of proof in logic; suppose a proposition, derive false, conclude the negation of the assumed proposition. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-latin-phrases-dont-make-your-argument-stronger/577704/68 "2011-04-13T22:05:57Z")
> [@Darth\_Nader](#): > > _Ego sum validus insquequo terminus, quoniam ego eat meus spinach._ > > Yeah, those online translators aren’t quite there yet, are they? _Fortis ad finitum sum quia spinaciam meam edam_, if the “because” clause takes the subjunctive… ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Nader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Darth\_Nader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Nader)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-latin-phrases-dont-make-your-argument-stronger/577704/69 "2011-04-13T22:53:08Z")
Awesome. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2011, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-latin-phrases-dont-make-your-argument-stronger/577704/70 "2011-04-13T23:02:31Z")
I remember Tycho at Penny Arcade rebutting someone else’s post- where said “someone” used the term _ceteris paribus_- by saying “_ceteris paribus_- which is Latin for ‘_look how fucking smart I am_’”… **ETA:** ah, here it is: [http://www.penny-arcade.com/2006/09/13/](http://www.penny-arcade.com/2006/09/13/) ---
**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:** [April 14, 2011, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-latin-phrases-dont-make-your-argument-stronger/577704/71 "2011-04-14T00:01:41Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > I remember Tycho at Penny Arcade rebutting someone else’s post- where said “someone” used the term _ceteris paribus_- by saying “_ceteris paribus_- which is Latin for ‘_look how fucking smart I am_’”.. And yet, the entire comic strip and accompanying blog boils down to “look how fucking smart I am”. Somehow the guy who knows something you don’t know is the one being the bloviating prick. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-latin-phrases-dont-make-your-argument-stronger/577704/72 "2011-04-14T00:16:57Z")
> [@Darth\_Nader](#): > > _Ego sum validus insquequo terminus, quoniam ego eat meus spinach._ > > Yeah, those online translators aren’t quite there yet, are they? It’s got a Popeye in the machine. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-latin-phrases-dont-make-your-argument-stronger/577704/73 "2011-04-14T14:33:25Z")
_Of course_ Latin doesn’t make your argument stronger. Tout le monde knows the way to make a weak argument stronger is to throw in some French. If it doesn’t make it stronger, it at least makes it more arousing. ---
**Author:** ![sachertorte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sachertorte/32/3727_2.png) [@sachertorte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sachertorte)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-latin-phrases-dont-make-your-argument-stronger/577704/74 "2011-04-14T16:02:00Z")
> [@CitizenPained](#): > > _Modus operandi_ - somehow saying “MO” incorrectly isn’t as annoying as spelling that shit out and using it as a noun. If it isn’t a noun, then what is it? ---
**Author:** ![BobArrgh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobarrgh/32/2881_2.png) [@BobArrgh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobArrgh)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-latin-phrases-dont-make-your-argument-stronger/577704/75 "2011-04-14T17:46:56Z")
I seemed to have had _a priori_ knowledge about how this thread was going to go. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-latin-phrases-dont-make-your-argument-stronger/577704/76 "2011-04-14T18:25:31Z")
About thirty years ago, there was a company called Thinking Cap that made and sold movie-related caps and other apparel. Their motto, which I guess was supposed to mean “I think, therefore I wear a cap,” was “Cogito, ergo capellam vestio.” That translates as: “I think, therefore I \ a she-goat.” ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2011, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-latin-phrases-dont-make-your-argument-stronger/577704/77 "2011-04-14T18:46:56Z")
> [@sachertorte](#): > > If it isn’t a noun, then what is it? It is to be used as a noun. If someone ‘spells that shit out and uses it as a noun’ it is not as annoying as someone using ‘MO’ as a verb phrase. I saw that on in a debate recently and stared at for awhile before deciding (perhaps incorrectly?) that M.O. can _only_ be used as a noun. It was rather awkward, so I’m only assuming the person used it without knowing what it stood for. If I’m wrong, then definitely tell me. How do you use ‘modus operandi’ in singular v. plural form? Everyone makes mistakes - I screw up my words every day (thank you, TBI!) but I feel as though people throw in Latin phrases just to sound authoritative on the subject. If it’s used incorrectly, that’s just an additional annoyance. I don’t knock on word errors, misspellings (well, not that often) or things like “irregardless” or “lay/lie” but I do get annoyed at stuff like this (which is someone arguing about things that are either factually incorrect or he just contradicted himself): > [@](#): > > I’m referring to the de facto caste system largely imposed by the Roman (and before that Greek) occupations. The Jews _per se_ did not have a formalized caste system, but vertical social mobility was virtually non existent. > [@](#): > > It is not a statement about Jesus _per se_ > […] > You do understand the meaning of the word \*if/i], don’t you? I still can’t spell bureaucracy (or any “bureau” word), nauseam, nausea, nauseated, and nauseous without spellcheck. I say things like ‘sawdust’ when I mean to to say ‘dandruff’. I’m OK if people correct me. I _need_ it. I just don’t aspire to sound like a ‘bloviating prick(ette)’. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2011, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-latin-phrases-dont-make-your-argument-stronger/577704/78 "2011-04-15T02:21:38Z")
> [@CitizenPained](#): > > \ > > I just don’t aspire to sound like a ‘bloviating prick(ette)’. Are you sure you’re on the right board? 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newsflash-latin-phrases-dont-make-your-argument-stronger/577704.md?page=3)