# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![AppallingGael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obviously-any-intelligent-person-is-fluent-in-latin/511619/41 "2009-09-26T23:06:07Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > I don’t know what they call those quotations before a chapter in a novel An epigraph. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obviously-any-intelligent-person-is-fluent-in-latin/511619/42 "2009-09-26T23:20:21Z")
> [@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, Dunno about that. The latin names for things in the natural world are far less often unambiguous. ‘Bluejay’ happens to be reasonably unambiguous too - so you have a point, however, had you said _Robin_ - you could have been talking about one or the other of two quite different birds. I’m not saying it’s ‘smart’, but it is quite often _useful_. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obviously-any-intelligent-person-is-fluent-in-latin/511619/43 "2009-09-26T23:21:48Z")
I r speak lolcats, I know it from my learnings and having seen many lolcats in my day. ---
**Author:** ![Estilicon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@Estilicon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Estilicon)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obviously-any-intelligent-person-is-fluent-in-latin/511619/44 "2009-09-26T23:52:42Z")
> [@emcee2k](#): > > Well, not really. But if I was going waste a bunch of time learning a useless half dead language, it’d be Irish. Or Fortran. Me? I would learn french, that way I would be able to understand the genius that is “Matrix reloaded” ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obviously-any-intelligent-person-is-fluent-in-latin/511619/45 "2009-09-27T00:10:10Z")
What’s interesting is that I’ve read a few Adventure Stories from the late 19th and Early 20th centuries where our Intrepid Explorers discover some ancient monument or Important Find with an inscription in Latin- and there’s no translation provided, the author having assumed (not entirely unreasonably) that if you can read the story, you went to school. And if you went to school, you learned Latin. Therefore, you know what the inscription the Intrepid Explorers found would translate to in English and no “in-text” translation was necessary. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Silvorange](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Silvorange](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silvorange)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obviously-any-intelligent-person-is-fluent-in-latin/511619/46 "2009-09-27T00:22:11Z")
Vah! Denuone latine loquebar? Me ineptum. Interdum modo elabitur. \* \*Oh! Was I speaking Latin again? Silly me. Sometimes it just sort of slips out. (according to [http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A218882](http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A218882)) ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obviously-any-intelligent-person-is-fluent-in-latin/511619/47 "2009-09-27T00:40:00Z")
And it has become fashionable to say mea cupla where normal people would just say “sorry about that, chief”. It lies at the elitist end of the apology spectrum: ```auto mea culpa <----------------- I'm sorry -----------------> my bad (pretentious) (normal) (monosyllabic-limited) ``` ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obviously-any-intelligent-person-is-fluent-in-latin/511619/48 "2009-09-27T00:44:40Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Am I really the first Doper to say this? Yes, it is true. Obviously, any intelligent person is fluent in Latin. If you wasted your time studying modern languages you will soon learn the folly of your ways. You will have only the most rudimentary understanding of legal phrases or medical terms, but what is worse is that you can never work at the Vatican. 100 years ago, I might have agreed with you. My grandmother was a Latin teacher, my grandfather, a history teacher. They had frequent dinner table arguments about how “dead” Latin was, or so I was told. 50 years ago, I might have agreed with you. My mother and I argued over the dinner table whether I should take Latin or French. French won. Now, I dunno. Is it still a good idea to learn such an obsolete and unspoken language unless you are planning on entering the medical profession? If so, will that always be the case? Forever? Aren’t there better and more practical uses for your limited classtime? Like, maybe, basket weaving? ---
**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 27, 2009, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obviously-any-intelligent-person-is-fluent-in-latin/511619/49 "2009-09-27T00:49:57Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Now, I dunno. Is it still a good idea to learn such an obsolete and unspoken language unless you are planning on entering the medical profession? If so, will that always be the case? Forever? As long as 2000 years of human art and thought was expressed primarily through the means of written Latin, it’s worth having access to that in the original. It’s a significant enough chunk of history to be worth accessing. Alas, many of my students cannot read Victorian English, much less contemporary college-level English writing, so I suppose we’ll have to jettison it in favor of twittering Lolcatz. I’m sure we’re all the richer for it. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obviously-any-intelligent-person-is-fluent-in-latin/511619/50 "2009-09-27T00:51:53Z")
> [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](#): > > And it has become fashionable to say mea cupla where normal people would just say “sorry about that, chief”. It lies at the elitist end of the apology spectrum If you want to be just that wee bit extra pretentious (and who doesn’t?), I recommend _Je suis très désolé_ (“I am very sorry”). Covers a variety of situations and sounds apologetic even if the other party _ne parle pas Français_ 😉 > [@Dr.Drake](#): > > Alas, many of my students cannot read Victorian English, much less contemporary college-level English writing, so I suppose we’ll have to jettison it in favor of twittering Lolcatz. I’m sure we’re all the richer for it. That’s really sad- Victorian English is very colourful and conveys a great many subtleties and nuances that modern, informal English cannot manage so… elegantly, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obviously-any-intelligent-person-is-fluent-in-latin/511619/51 "2009-09-27T01:15:33Z")
> [@bucketybuck](#): > > Valete. Vox Imperatoris. 😃 Volare! Oh, oh! ---
**Author:** ![AppallingGael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obviously-any-intelligent-person-is-fluent-in-latin/511619/52 "2009-09-27T02:07:31Z")
> [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](#): > > And it has become fashionable to say mea cupla where normal people would just say “sorry about that, chief”. ] But that could be taken for an all-out, full-on, no-holds-barred apology. I need to know the Latin for “I’m sorry if anybody took offense”. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obviously-any-intelligent-person-is-fluent-in-latin/511619/53 "2009-09-27T02:07:41Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > I’m flatulant in Latin. I am SO gonna use that. Or however you say the above in Latin. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obviously-any-intelligent-person-is-fluent-in-latin/511619/54 "2009-09-27T02:26:47Z")
Timeo danaos et dona ferentes. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obviously-any-intelligent-person-is-fluent-in-latin/511619/55 "2009-09-27T02:52:46Z")
> [@AppallingGael](#): > > But that could be taken for an all-out, full-on, no-holds-barred apology. OK what the hell is an “all-out, full-on, no-holds-barred apology” and how is it different from an apology? Are there degrees of apology now? If so, how about: First degree apology: I’m sorry. Second degree apology: I’m so sorry. Third degree apology: I’m very sorry. Jimmy Swaggart apology: Dear god I’m sorry. There. No dead languages required. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obviously-any-intelligent-person-is-fluent-in-latin/511619/56 "2009-09-27T03:44:50Z")
> [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](#): > > OK what the hell is an “all-out, full-on, no-holds-barred apology” and how is it different from an apology? Are there degrees of apology now There are indeed degrees of apology, ranging from “I’m not actually sorry but you’re easily offended so it’s really easier to pretend I am sorry than get into an argument about it” to “I have made an error/mistake and I apologise for it and any inconvenience caused” to “I fucked up spectacularly, I regret it, and will do everything I can to sort it out”. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obviously-any-intelligent-person-is-fluent-in-latin/511619/57 "2009-09-27T04:10:21Z")
> [@](#): > > Timeo danaos et dona ferentes. Oh, shit, yeah. (Rendered, I believe, in _Sebastiane_ as “Oh, excrementum!”) Latin is for pansies–it’s Sanskrit you want for that deep-down Indo-European erudition. ---
**Author:** ![Enuma\_Elish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5e9695/32.png) [@Enuma\_Elish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enuma_Elish)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obviously-any-intelligent-person-is-fluent-in-latin/511619/58 "2009-09-27T04:46:08Z")
Semper ubi sub ubi. This is the only Latin you need to know. Unless you’re really into free-balling. Or whatever the ladies call it. Sic transit gloria mundi…(you don’t need to know this) ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obviously-any-intelligent-person-is-fluent-in-latin/511619/59 "2009-09-27T04:55:13Z")
> [@](#): > > Semper ubi sub ubi. Ubi o ubi est mea sub-ubi? ---
**Author:** ![Enuma\_Elish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5e9695/32.png) [@Enuma\_Elish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enuma_Elish)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obviously-any-intelligent-person-is-fluent-in-latin/511619/60 "2009-09-27T05:19:14Z")
> [@susan](#): > > Ubi o ubi est mea sub-ubi? I promise you I am not keeping them in a special drawer in my house. Really. Honest! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obviously-any-intelligent-person-is-fluent-in-latin/511619.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obviously-any-intelligent-person-is-fluent-in-latin/511619.md?page=4)