# t-shirt idea **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 8, 2018, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/t-shirt-idea/806103 "2018-01-08T04:05:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cmosdes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@cmosdes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmosdes)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/t-shirt-idea/806103/1 "2018-01-08T04:05:14Z")
I’m on the hook to try and recruit volunteers for a local non-profit that I do a lot of volunteering for. Specifically, I’m in charge of trying to recruit teens to step up and help out. One idea I had was to give t-shirts to the kids that volunteer. I want the t-shirt to be a sign that the teen is helping out and to encourage others to volunteer as well. This is an organization that is 100% run by volunteers and we need the help. I thought of putting “veni vidi voluntarius” on the shirt with some other graphics. But I have no idea if that really translates into “I came, I saw, I volunteered” nor how well people would pick up on it. 1. Can anyone give me the correct way to say “I came, I saw, I volunteered”? 2. If you saw something like that, would you think it was clever or just dumb? ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/t-shirt-idea/806103/2 "2018-01-08T04:29:40Z")
I like the English words. I came, I saw, I volunteered. I think it’s catchy enough and current enough for teens. Why wouldn’t you just use those? ---
**Author:** ![BlueMerle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a87d85/32.png) [@BlueMerle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlueMerle)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/t-shirt-idea/806103/3 "2018-01-08T04:40:31Z")
I wonder if a combination of the two wouldn’t be a good idea. Latin, in bold, with the English translation in a regular font and in parenthesis just below or perhaps only on the back. What ever you do don’t put any other logo, corporate or otherwise, on the T. That won’t work with teens… imo. Let them ask those they see wearing the T where they got it or what it means… more of grassroots thing. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/t-shirt-idea/806103/4 "2018-01-08T05:45:17Z")
_Voluntarius_ is a noun; it means a volunteer in the sense of one who offers himself for military service, as opposed to one who is conscripted. It’s from the Latin _voluntas_, will, choice, inclination. It’s the root of the English noun _volunteer_, which turns up in the early seventeenth century. The Latin word, and initially the English word, had an exclusively military connotation. The English verb _to volunteer_ doesn’t appear until a century or more later and it is, of course, a verbal form of the already-existing noun. Latin doesn’t do this with nouns. As far as I know, there is no Latin verb meaning “to volunteer”; you’d have to express the concept with a verbal phrase of a form like “I served willingly” (_volenter servivi_). ---
**Author:** ![DooWahDiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@DooWahDiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooWahDiddy)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/t-shirt-idea/806103/5 "2018-01-08T06:08:39Z")
What about “I came, I volunteered, I conquered”? That way you get the triumphant final word, but “volunteered” is still in there. Let me know if you need help getting the shirts! I own a company that makes swag and we have lots of apparel options. I could hook you up with a deal, most likely. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/t-shirt-idea/806103/6 "2018-01-08T07:18:24Z")
> [@cmosdes](#): > > “veni vidi voluntarius” But I have no idea how well people would pick up on it. Latin is too stuffy. People over age 50 who attended school in England may know Latin. Americans will not. People who took college history classes may recognize Julius Caesar’s famous quote( if you include the English translation.) American teenagers will not. > [@](#): > > If you saw something like that, would you think it was clever or just dumb? I personally think it’s clever. But a bit hard to understand. And a good advertising slogan needs something more important than cleverness–it first and foremost _must_ be understood easily. T-shirts are a good idea, but try a totally different slogan, and something that describes what your organization does… Tell us what your organization does, so we can make suggestions! Maybe something along the lines of: “I help take care of animals at the Humane Society…Come bark with me” “I helped the homeless today! Help me help them help themselves.” “I volunteered at the nursing home… and all I got was this lousy T-shirt----and a whole lotta love.” “Come smile with me and the kids at …” ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/t-shirt-idea/806103/7 "2018-01-08T15:14:04Z")
I agree that Latin would not work. But “I came. I saw. I volunteered” would be a swell slogan, especially written out in the left-aligned, block lettering that is sort of popular now. You can make the “o” in volunteered a heart, maybe a hand-drawn one. Examples: [one](https://the19thhole.co/products/three-putt-master-left-align-t-shirt) [two](https://www.amazon.com/Best-Ever-T-shirt-Fathers-Shirt/dp/B007RGCYYK) [three](https://www.founditemclothing.com/itgoesto11/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/fancy-tshirtscomCustom-T-shirt-Design-LOVE-SUCKS-LETS-CUDDLE-300x276.png) ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/t-shirt-idea/806103/8 "2018-01-08T15:20:42Z")
> [@](#): > > If you saw something like that, would you think it was clever or just dumb? As others have noted, I would estimate that upwards of 90% of the people to see the t-shirt (and upwards of 98% of the teens offered them) would not in any way whatsoever recognize anything about the phrase. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2018, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/t-shirt-idea/806103/9 "2018-01-08T23:22:28Z")
Teens, huh? _“I came, I saw, I volunteered, I stood around and texted non-stop how lame it was.”_ 😃 Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2018, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/t-shirt-idea/806103/10 "2018-01-09T16:07:13Z")
Given the choice between English and Latin I think the English works the best. My experience with t-shirts for causes/charities is very mixed. Especially in teens and adults the give-aways at different things like that end up going home and right into a Thrift bag or the trash. Some get used and worn but I’ve never been sure the numbers are high enough to really work as advertising or raising awareness. There are exceptions of course - the Komen cancer events and some church related causes spring to mind - but I am not sure I would put a lot of money into it and I would go into it all with the understanding that it may not accomplish much.