# What is your family motto? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 9, 2013, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-family-motto/663074 "2013-07-09T20:08:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cainxinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7bcc69/32.png) [@cainxinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cainxinth)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-family-motto/663074/1 "2013-07-09T20:08:07Z")
We don’t have an official family motto, but I often joke that if we did it would be: “No Mistakes Allowed.” The family patriarch has a very high pressure job where pretty much no mistakes are allowed; that kind of commitment to avoiding errors is a big part of him. It’s no wonder really that he raised us the way he did. I can remember spilling milk as a toddler and being told to keep my wits about myself. Hmmm… that one kind of works for us too: “Keep Your Wits About You.” edit: [relevant](http://imgur.com/gallery/lPxIt) ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-family-motto/663074/2 "2013-07-09T20:19:54Z")
Gee. This bears thinking about. “Summer is coming”, har har. Or “Keep calm and carry on”, overused as that is. We have the poster in our kitchen and I wore a necklace that said that on our wedding day. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-family-motto/663074/3 "2013-07-09T20:22:04Z")
The enemy gate is down. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-family-motto/663074/4 "2013-07-09T20:22:41Z")
If anything can go wrong, it will. ---
**Author:** ![Strainger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strainger/32/244_2.png) [@Strainger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strainger)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-family-motto/663074/5 "2013-07-09T20:23:40Z")
“Non timeo sed caveo” meaning “I do not fear but am cautious.” That is literally [what it is](http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~straindna/StrainSurname.htm). ---
**Author:** ![Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/58956e/32.png) [@Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emtar_KronJonDerSohn)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-family-motto/663074/6 "2013-07-09T20:25:18Z")
Cognosce teipsum et disce pati “Know thyself and learn to suffer” ---
**Author:** ![legalsnugs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@legalsnugs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/legalsnugs)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-family-motto/663074/7 "2013-07-09T20:30:44Z")
“This, too, shall pass.” ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-family-motto/663074/8 "2013-07-09T20:50:28Z")
“We’re a bunch of crazy motherfuckers- but don’t tell anybody!”? ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-family-motto/663074/9 "2013-07-09T20:52:46Z")
“Non Curamus De Minimis.”\* Very loosely translated: we don’t sweat the small stuff. \*Obviously adapted from old legal adage “Lex non curat de minimis,” or “The law doesn’t concern itself with insignificant things.” ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-family-motto/663074/10 "2013-07-09T20:54:52Z")
“I’ll give you something to cry about!” ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-family-motto/663074/11 "2013-07-09T20:55:09Z")
Never pay retail. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-family-motto/663074/12 "2013-07-09T20:55:54Z")
“Be Prepared” My father carried band aids in his wallet, and so do I. ---
**Author:** ![Barrett\_Bonden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5e9695/32.png) [@Barrett\_Bonden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barrett_Bonden)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-family-motto/663074/13 "2013-07-09T20:56:49Z")
“What could possibly go wrong?” ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-family-motto/663074/14 "2013-07-09T21:53:17Z")
“Laugh it up, laugh it off.” Madmonk’s is funny as hell. ---
**Author:** ![kbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4491bb/32.png) [@kbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kbear)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-family-motto/663074/15 "2013-07-09T22:02:06Z")
Our actual clan motto is Meane Weil, Speak Weil and Do Weil ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-family-motto/663074/16 "2013-07-09T22:05:37Z")
Never turn back ---
**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:** [July 9, 2013, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-family-motto/663074/17 "2013-07-09T22:06:24Z")
Porcelain is glass. ---
**Author:** ![cainxinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7bcc69/32.png) [@cainxinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cainxinth)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-family-motto/663074/18 "2013-07-09T22:18:31Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Porcelain is glass. Interesting one! What is the significance to your family? ---
**Author:** ![cainxinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7bcc69/32.png) [@cainxinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cainxinth)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-family-motto/663074/19 "2013-07-09T22:20:46Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > Never pay retail. That’s also the motto of the city of Boca Raton, Fl. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-family-motto/663074/20 "2013-07-09T22:27:09Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > …Madmonk’s is funny as hell. Wasn’t at the time.😉 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-family-motto/663074.md?page=2)