# We Don't Need No Furrin Latin Mottoes Round Heah! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 3, 2015, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-dont-need-no-furrin-latin-mottoes-round-heah/711733 "2015-02-03T17:31:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2015, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-dont-need-no-furrin-latin-mottoes-round-heah/711733/1 "2015-02-03T17:31:20Z")
Start with a feel-good human interest [fluff story](http://thevpo.org/2015/01/19/no-good-deed-goes-unpunished/): > [@](#): > > Last spring, Senate Minority Leader Joe Benning got a letter from an eighth-grader at The Riverside School in Lyndonville. She was studying Latin, and wanted Senator Joe to introduce a bill to give Vermont a Latin motto… Add [input from the Teeming Millions](https://www.facebook.com/WCAXTV/posts/10155080752705442): > [@](#): > > NO! We are American… > [@](#): > > Why? Is the state full of Latinos? > [@](#): > > we are thousands of miles from a Latino border? and this makes sense WHY? NO we should not > [@](#): > > Why would ANYone in their right mind even think of such a thing?? If anyone of a different culture moves to a region, they need to learn the language, if they plan to stay. > [@](#): > > I truly believe in biLigual… No excuse if 90% of everything is in ENGLISH… Major systems of assistance list min. Of 10 languages!!.. > Let’s start w/ the court system… Point made!! ( if you came legally!!). > [@](#): > > Hell f.ing no why should we change our ways to please anyone else??! They sure the hell won’t change there’s !!! 😕 :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :smack: :eek: It’s almost enough to make you Quayle… ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2015, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-dont-need-no-furrin-latin-mottoes-round-heah/711733/2 "2015-02-03T17:40:26Z")
Stultus est sempiternum. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2015, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-dont-need-no-furrin-latin-mottoes-round-heah/711733/3 "2015-02-03T17:42:56Z")
Can we get a nice Latin translation for “the stupid, it burns!” ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2015, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-dont-need-no-furrin-latin-mottoes-round-heah/711733/4 "2015-02-03T18:17:16Z")
Jeez, that’s too baad. I hear the girl mentioned in the article speaks Latin like she was born there. ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2015, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-dont-need-no-furrin-latin-mottoes-round-heah/711733/5 "2015-02-03T18:33:18Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Can we get a nice Latin translation for “the stupid, it burns!” How 'bout _stupor, comburit_ (the latter word having the connotation of “burning to ash”, which is admittedly something one could devoutly wish for). ---
**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 3, 2015, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-dont-need-no-furrin-latin-mottoes-round-heah/711733/6 "2015-02-03T18:34:54Z")
New York’s state motto is _Excelsior_. I always wondered why they thought [packing material](http://www.nashvillewraps.com/images/large_stkno/fwe14.jpg) was so important. I wish we had a Latino motto like Montana: _Oro y plata._ ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2015, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-dont-need-no-furrin-latin-mottoes-round-heah/711733/7 "2015-02-03T19:47:43Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > New York’s state motto is _Excelsior_. I always wondered why they thought [packing material](http://www.nashvillewraps.com/images/large_stkno/fwe14.jpg) was so important. I wish we had a Latino motto like Montana: _Oro y plata._ > [@](#): > > “Excelsior” also became a trade name for wood shavings used as packing material or furniture stuffing. In Bullwinkle’s Corner, Bullwinkle the Moose parodies the poem in Season 2 Episode 18 (1960–61) of The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show: > [@](#): > > Rocky: “‘Pray tell me,’ said a mountaineer, > > ‘What in the world you’re doing here > > And why you climb up here so high > > Just to give that silly cry?'” > > Bullwinkle: “Excelsior?” > > Rocky: “That’s the one!” > > Bullwinkle:The answer came both quick and blunt > > It’s just a advertising stunt. > > I represent Smith, Jones, & Jakes, > > A lumber company that makes > > …Excelsior! > **[Excelsior (Longfellow)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excelsior_(Longfellow))** > > "Excelsior" is a short poem written in 1841 by American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. > The poem describes a young man passing through a mountain village at dusk. He bears the banner "Excelsior" (translated from Latin as "higher", also loosely but more widely as "onward and upward"). The traveller disregards warnings from villagers of fearful dangers above, and an offer of rest from a local maiden. The youth climbs higher until a last distant cry interrupts the prayers of the monks of Saint Ber...