# Use of Latin in Posts (Note from What Exit) **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [February 18, 2021, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-latin-in-posts-note-from-what-exit/933249 "2021-02-18T19:24:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2021, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-latin-in-posts-note-from-what-exit/933249/21 "2021-02-19T13:13:12Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > Well, not quite; it says it cannot be read, i.e., _no one_ can read it. Thanks. Google Translate gave: Greek, we do not read. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2021, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-latin-in-posts-note-from-what-exit/933249/22 "2021-02-19T15:07:05Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > > [@BigT](#): > > > > it’s not those phrases everyone knows. > > Graecum est; non legitur. _Melbourne delenda est!_ Eta: a reference to a Roman politician who supposedly finished every speech by stating that Carthage must be destroyed ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2021, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-latin-in-posts-note-from-what-exit/933249/23 "2021-02-19T20:11:36Z")
Είναι όλα ελληνικά για μένα. (It’s all Greek to me.) Actually a Greek would say something more like this: Αυτά μου φαίνονται κινέζικα. (This appears to be Chinese to me.) ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2021, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-latin-in-posts-note-from-what-exit/933249/24 "2021-02-19T20:33:27Z")
Wouldn’t the Greeks say, “It’s all gibberish to me,” since the speech of the barbarians was incomprehensible to them? ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2021, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-latin-in-posts-note-from-what-exit/933249/25 "2021-02-19T20:42:45Z")
It’s all bar bar bar to me. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2021, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-latin-in-posts-note-from-what-exit/933249/26 "2021-02-20T05:34:18Z")
That link no longer goes there, due to the merge. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2021, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-latin-in-posts-note-from-what-exit/933249/27 "2021-02-20T09:29:02Z")
Fixed ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2021, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-latin-in-posts-note-from-what-exit/933249/28 "2021-02-21T09:03:36Z")
Osibili, si ergo. Fortibuses in ero. Nobili, demis trux. Sewatis enim? Cowsendux! Oh, see, Billy, see 'er go. Forty buses in a row. No, Billy, them is trucks. So what is in 'em? Cows an ducks! ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2021, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-latin-in-posts-note-from-what-exit/933249/29 "2021-02-21T09:05:42Z")
Old Slavic proverb: Vyizzer zominimor orzizaziz zanzeris orziz? Why is there so many more horses asses than there is horses? ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2021, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-latin-in-posts-note-from-what-exit/933249/30 "2021-02-23T05:40:47Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Don’t get all _farklemt._ If we banned you for using an odd foreign word here and there it would be the first time in the history of the boards.😉 There’s no problem with an occasional word like that, but if uncommon you should provide the meaning. > > One reason we want people to post in English is that we don’t want people using foreign words that may not be generally understood to insult other posters. Mods need to be able to understand what people are saying to one another. Thank you, colibri\* \*hummingbird ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2021, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-latin-in-posts-note-from-what-exit/933249/31 "2021-02-23T05:45:15Z")
_Ecce Eduardus Ursus scalis nunc tump-tump-tump occipite._… First line of Winnie the Pooh, used in SCA at times… ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2021, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-latin-in-posts-note-from-what-exit/933249/32 "2021-02-24T03:29:10Z")
Caesar cari dona militari orgi versus Belgae, Helvetii, Germani, Venetii, Britanni — iunaemit. Romis glorius sed Caesar nomen me impunit. Sum traedit, Vercingetorix, forin stans. Caesar noctim sili fors ticinis nec aut. Ab lumen nervi felo, sed Caesar, Marcus Antonius sed iubet. - _The Gallic Wars (condensed version)_ ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2021, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-latin-in-posts-note-from-what-exit/933249/33 "2021-02-24T16:03:22Z")
Caesar et sum jam forte Brutus et erat Caesar sic in omnibus Brutus sic in at ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2021, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-latin-in-posts-note-from-what-exit/933249/34 "2021-02-24T16:39:51Z")
“Dura lex, sed lex caraxus.” as my father used to say. “The law is harsh but is the law (carajo\*)” - Google translate translates “Carajo” as “Shit”, and that may be the best possible translation. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2021, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-latin-in-posts-note-from-what-exit/933249/35 "2021-02-24T17:17:35Z")
> [@Frodo](#): > > Google translate translates “Carajo” as “Shit”, and that may be the best possible translation. I always understood carajo in Spanish to mean “dick,” although it’s mostly used as an expletive. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2021, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-latin-in-posts-note-from-what-exit/933249/36 "2021-02-24T17:25:21Z")
Yes, it has no real meaning, (here in the south, at least), it means “expletive I say when I hammer my own finger” ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2021, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-latin-in-posts-note-from-what-exit/933249/37 "2021-02-24T17:41:35Z")
So _caraxus_ is your father’s translation of _carajo_ into Latin? It doesn’t appear to be real Latin. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2021, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-latin-in-posts-note-from-what-exit/933249/38 "2021-02-24T17:49:50Z")
No, it’s dad-latin 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2021, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-latin-in-posts-note-from-what-exit/933249/39 "2021-02-24T18:51:49Z")
So, we’re getting down to bogus dog-Latin now? There’s always the venerable - Illegitimi non carborundum Don’t let the bastards grind you down. And this beautiful Latin palindrome which (I’ve been told, by one who knows Latin) is in fact incomprehensible: - In girum imus nocte et consumimur igni. Said to be the Devil’s answer when asked by St. Thomas Aquinas: “Just what do you do in Hell anyway?” We gather in the night and are consumed by fire. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2021, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-latin-in-posts-note-from-what-exit/933249/40 "2021-02-24T18:57:16Z")
This is meaningless dog-Latin I suppose, started by a typo: _Coito ergo sum_ I (do something that looks like the word _coitus_ used to mean engaging in sex) therefore I am. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-latin-in-posts-note-from-what-exit/933249.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/use-of-latin-in-posts-note-from-what-exit/933249.md?page=3)