# Obviously, any Intelligent Person is Fluent in Latin **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 26, 2009, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obviously-any-intelligent-person-is-fluent-in-latin/511619 "2009-09-26T03:28:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obviously-any-intelligent-person-is-fluent-in-latin/511619/21 "2009-09-26T10:25:01Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > I took Latin in high school, and I am pretty sure that the true and “correct” pronunciation is basically unknown, lost to time. We just have conjecture and theories (which may be based on evidence, but are not absolute). In Historical Linguistics, we determine what the sounds of the ancient language probably were, not what they absolutely were. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obviously-any-intelligent-person-is-fluent-in-latin/511619/22 "2009-09-26T11:03:29Z")
> [@3trew](#): > > I once knew a lawyer named Babbet > Who was asked, as luck would have it, > To teach a class: > Legal Ethics. Alas, > he replied “Nemo dat quod non habet”. Is it bad if I laughed on reading that… and I’m not a lawyer? > [@Olentzero](#): > > Pog mo thon. Tiocfaidh ar la! Is it worse if I now want to see if Olent can stand up after I give him a good ol’ fashioned hug an’ headbutt? ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obviously-any-intelligent-person-is-fluent-in-latin/511619/23 "2009-09-26T12:32:11Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > This is one of my peeves. > > If you know the name of a bird or plant or something in latin, somehow thats “smart”. > > If you can’t tell me something interesting about it besides its latin name…well BFD in my opinion…and I think you look like a tool spouting the latin name in casual conversation. Its a fucking Bluejay. > > Kinda like flolks who spout bible verses. If you know the text of the verse and its implications, fine. Which book, verse, line, whatever doesnt do diddly for me, Actually to keep an exroomie from using my herbs and spices I labeled the bottles with the botanical name in latin. Not that I wanted to keep her from cooking, but she would use the same spoon to dip out the spices and to stir the pot, and not wash and dry the spoon between dips. She ruined more damned bottles full of spices doing that shit. She never figured out that I alphabetized them in the rack by what would have been the english names 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obviously-any-intelligent-person-is-fluent-in-latin/511619/24 "2009-09-26T14:58:55Z")
> [@Olentzero](#): > > Pog mo thon. Tiocfaidh ar la! Irish isn’t dead yet. You want Old Irish: _Dobeir phóic domm thóin_. _Beir forsa laa_. (I’m guessing on _Tiocfaidh ar la_, “It will come at day.” I assumed _carpe diem_.) ETA: It looks like you could also say _Póc mo thóin_. ---
**Author:** ![Neverending\_Elbow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e274bd/32.png) [@Neverending\_Elbow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neverending_Elbow)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obviously-any-intelligent-person-is-fluent-in-latin/511619/25 "2009-09-26T15:50:50Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Jesus, get a grip. All I aimed for was being a Swiss Guard. I think Jesus would aim a bit higher… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obviously-any-intelligent-person-is-fluent-in-latin/511619/26 "2009-09-26T16:13:13Z")
> [@3trew](#): > > I once knew a lawyer named Babbet > Who was asked, as luck would have it, > To teach a class: > Legal Ethics. Alas, > he replied “Nemo dat quod non habet”. > > I postulate that this does, in fact, scan, give or take a punctuation mark. “De minimis non curat lex,” as another limerick comments. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obviously-any-intelligent-person-is-fluent-in-latin/511619/27 "2009-09-26T16:46:55Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > (I’m guessing on _Tiocfaidh ar la_, “It will come at day.” I assumed _carpe diem_.) “Our day will come.” ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obviously-any-intelligent-person-is-fluent-in-latin/511619/28 "2009-09-26T16:50:53Z")
> [@Olentzero](#): > > “Our day will come.” I didn’t know Ruby and the Romantics were Irish! :o 😃 ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obviously-any-intelligent-person-is-fluent-in-latin/511619/29 "2009-09-26T17:00:27Z")
Valete. Vox Imperatoris. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obviously-any-intelligent-person-is-fluent-in-latin/511619/30 "2009-09-26T17:03:25Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Am I really the first Doper to say this? Yes, it is true. Obviously, any intelligent person is fluent in Latin. Like many members of this board, I was born fluent in Latin, as was my son, an Indigo Child who recently became the first preschooler to win a MacArthur Foundation Genius Grant. ---
**Author:** ![wierdaaron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/eada6e/32.png) [@wierdaaron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wierdaaron)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obviously-any-intelligent-person-is-fluent-in-latin/511619/31 "2009-09-26T17:33:30Z")
Post hoc, ergo propter hoc. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obviously-any-intelligent-person-is-fluent-in-latin/511619/32 "2009-09-26T17:40:38Z")
I once went to Latin America. They didn’t speak Latin. Now I don’t trust maps. How do I know that North is really Up if they lie about that Latin thing? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obviously-any-intelligent-person-is-fluent-in-latin/511619/33 "2009-09-26T19:28:28Z")
> [@Olentzero](#): > > “Our day will come.” Ah. My Modern Irish isn’t so good. (Old Irish _íar_, _for_, and _ar_ all become Mod. Ir. _ar_.) At any rate, _Regaid ar laa_. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obviously-any-intelligent-person-is-fluent-in-latin/511619/34 "2009-09-26T19:50:36Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Jesus, get a grip. All I aimed for was being a Swiss Guard. Ha, I’ll bet you don’t even speak Swiss! ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obviously-any-intelligent-person-is-fluent-in-latin/511619/35 "2009-09-26T20:01:29Z")
Not just plain Swiss: remember their recruiting slogan: “Adventure, Danger, Romansch” ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obviously-any-intelligent-person-is-fluent-in-latin/511619/36 "2009-09-26T20:04:58Z")
> [@bucketybuck](#): > > Valete. Vox Imperatoris. 😃 Kill him before he summons the prententious beast! ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obviously-any-intelligent-person-is-fluent-in-latin/511619/37 "2009-09-26T20:49:31Z")
Antediluvian Unca diluvian All the little diluvians. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obviously-any-intelligent-person-is-fluent-in-latin/511619/38 "2009-09-26T21:21:11Z")
> [@wierdaaron](#): > > Post hoc, ergo propter hoc. Hey, you just made me shit my pants! ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obviously-any-intelligent-person-is-fluent-in-latin/511619/39 "2009-09-26T21:30:52Z")
> [@Covered\_In\_Bees](#): > > Well I’m Latino, so I’ll go ahead and do all the boning around here okay? 😉 _[Josephus Tribbianius]Quid agis?[/Josephus Tribbianius]_ ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obviously-any-intelligent-person-is-fluent-in-latin/511619/40 "2009-09-26T22:03:50Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > “De minimis non curat lex,” as another limerick comments. 🙂 “I am assured, my Lord, that, in the remote and inhospitable island where my client dwells, they talk of little else.” 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obviously-any-intelligent-person-is-fluent-in-latin/511619.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obviously-any-intelligent-person-is-fluent-in-latin/511619.md?page=3)