# What The Hell Was I Talking About?!?!
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-was-i-talking-about/85402
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [October 4, 2001, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-was-i-talking-about/85402 "2001-10-04T17:09:12Z")
**Posts on this page:** 12
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Diane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diane)
#### Post date: [October 4, 2001, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-was-i-talking-about/85402/1 "2001-10-04T17:09:12Z")
I just found this old sig of mine. For the life of me, I have no idea what it says. Does anyone know what the hell it means?
_Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabisad capul tuum saxum immane mittam._
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### Author:  [@RalfCoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RalfCoder)
#### Post date: [October 4, 2001, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-was-i-talking-about/85402/2 "2001-10-04T17:18:25Z")
That’s latin for something like **"I have a catapult. Give me your money and nobody will get hurt."**
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### Author:  [@TheNerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheNerd)
#### Post date: [October 4, 2001, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-was-i-talking-about/85402/3 "2001-10-04T17:19:06Z")
I don’t know latin either, but it begins “I have a catapult.”
I’m guessing it says something like “I have a catapult. Give me all your money or I shall fling large rocks at you.”
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### Author:  [@seawitch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seawitch)
#### Post date: [October 4, 2001, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-was-i-talking-about/85402/4 "2001-10-04T17:29:31Z")
Whee! Finally a reason to learn Latin! I can say it to people, then explain it - so I get to be an intellectual snob and a bully at the same time!
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### Author:  [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)
#### Post date: [October 4, 2001, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-was-i-talking-about/85402/5 "2001-10-04T17:35:38Z")
Well, the quick latin translator I just downloaded says it means,
I dwell the catapult. if not the all men the money to I by dabisa your capul of the huge stones I shall send.
Which I translate to mean,
I have a catapult. Give me all your money or I shall fling large stones at you.
So, big points to TheNerd.
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### Author:  [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)
#### Post date: [October 4, 2001, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-was-i-talking-about/85402/6 "2001-10-04T17:44:59Z")
I think **RalfCoder** ’s translation best captures the spirit without being too literal.
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### Author:  [@Diane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diane)
#### Post date: [October 4, 2001, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-was-i-talking-about/85402/7 "2001-10-04T17:59:21Z")
I don’t know whether to be impressed with myself that I once upon a time had a Latin sig and must have known what it meant, or scared that it has been erased completely from my mind.
Anyhow, thanks guys!
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### Author:  [@RalfCoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RalfCoder)
#### Post date: [October 4, 2001, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-was-i-talking-about/85402/8 "2001-10-04T18:03:44Z")
Thank you, Shibboleth, but [the Latin Corner](http://tigress.com/emax/latin.html) seems to support **Ethilrist**. This is what you get for shooting from the hip, translation-wise.
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### Author:  [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)
#### Post date: [October 4, 2001, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-was-i-talking-about/85402/9 "2001-10-04T18:23:49Z")
Here’s my attempt:
I have a catapult. If you do not give me all your money I will savagely send a large stone at you.
I modified the original somewhat. “dabisad” is not really a latin word, but I figured it might be “dabis ad” which would be, “you give to,” but the “ad” is not necessary as “mihi” means “to me.”
“tuum,” I think should really be “te,” as tuum is the accusative adjective, while te is the accusative pronoun. But wait, in this case, the verb mitto should really be taking the dative I think, so it should read “tibi” instead of “tuum.”
Also, since we’ve got an “if” clause (if you do this, then this) we need a word for “then”. I believe “tamen” would work nicely here.
“capul” well, that is also not a word, so I’m ignoring it. 🙂
The final latin reads:
Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis tamen tibi saxum immane mittam.
I haven’t done latin for a while, so this may be poor latin grammar, but it’s a try, without a dictionary and all.
🙂
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### Author:  [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)
#### Post date: [October 4, 2001, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-was-i-talking-about/85402/10 "2001-10-04T18:30:03Z")
And then I go to the link provided by **RalfCoder** , and find that I was over zealous. So much for wanting to be academic… back to work.
(or maybe I at least sounded smart to some of you… maybe?)
:rolleyes:
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### Author:  [@RalfCoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RalfCoder)
#### Post date: [October 4, 2001, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-was-i-talking-about/85402/11 "2001-10-04T19:08:29Z")
**Eonwe** , si hoc legere scis, nimium eruditionis habes.
[sub]Boy, I hope that means [what I think it means!](http://www.tictac.to/latin_phrases_for_all_occasions.htm)[/sub]
Actually, I’m impressed, as I never studied Latin at all, and anyone that can pick the original phrase apart, point out the errors, and correct it is plenty smart in my book. Sit vis nobiscum.
[sub]I love the cut-and-paste function.[/sub]
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### Author:  [@Mobius74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mobius74)
#### Post date: [October 5, 2001, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-hell-was-i-talking-about/85402/12 "2001-10-05T22:28:30Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by RalfCoder \*
> **…as I never studied Latin at all, and anyone that can pick the original phrase apart, point out the errors, and correct it is plenty smart in my book…**
I _did_ study Latin - two years of it in high school, but it has been so long that … well, now it’s all Greek to me… Couldn’t translate my way out of an old Roman Catholic hymnal at this point… However, it _has_ been fun reading this thread and discovering all that I no longer know… So much for being smart in your book…