# What's your Latin motto? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 26, 2005, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-latin-motto/296367 "2005-03-26T16:30:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2005, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-latin-motto/296367/1 "2005-03-26T16:30:43Z")
I was waiting for the computer to boot up at the library today, twiddling the thumbs and all, and I noticed the school (University of Toronto, Vic College)'s crest on the desktop, complete with motto. U of T, IMHO, has a very nice, elegant motto: _Velut arbor aevo_, “as a tree matures into age”. So I was admiring our motto, and thinking: wouldn’t it be cool if we _all_ had our own Latin mottos? No, no, really, bear with me here… Mine, as the goddess of love, would naturally be _Amor vincit omnia_–love conquers all. What about yours? (Online Latin dictionaries, for the not-so-fluent, [here](http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/resolveform?lang=Latin) and [here](http://www.freedict.com/onldict/lat.html).) ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2005, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-latin-motto/296367/2 "2005-03-26T16:42:02Z")
Apparently, there is no Latin for [Everything in Moderation](http://www.freedict.com/onldict/onldict.php). The Romans were such sybarites. ---
**Author:** ![Bruce\_Daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Bruce\_Daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Daddy)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2005, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-latin-motto/296367/3 "2005-03-26T16:57:34Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > Apparently, there is no Latin for [Everything in Moderation](http://www.freedict.com/onldict/onldict.php). > > The Romans were such sybarites. in vino veritas ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2005, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-latin-motto/296367/4 "2005-03-26T17:07:49Z")
Nothing turned up on either of the links, and I don’t speak Latin. But a guy I used to know who spoke Latin said my motto translates to: _Festivitas Ante Sapientia_ Fun Before Wisdom ---
**Author:** ![TitoBenito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2acd7d/32.png) [@TitoBenito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TitoBenito)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2005, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-latin-motto/296367/5 "2005-03-26T17:12:33Z")
Nihil Agere Me Delectat. If I had a family crest it would surely be under it. ---
**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:** [March 26, 2005, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-latin-motto/296367/6 "2005-03-26T17:16:40Z")
_Disce Aut Morere_ - the motto on the wall of my classroom. _Hoc Volo, Sic Jubeo, Sit Pro Rationes Voluntas_ - For me personally. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![laurelann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/5daacb/32.png) [@laurelann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/laurelann)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2005, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-latin-motto/296367/7 "2005-03-26T17:20:10Z")
Ad astra per aspera–to the stars through the trees De gustibus non est disputandem–about taste, it is not to be disputed ---
**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:** [March 26, 2005, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-latin-motto/296367/8 "2005-03-26T17:20:15Z")
_Illegitimi tatum non carborundum_ (don’t let the bastards grind you down). Yes, I know it’s not really a Latin expression, and I know that there are countless variations. But this is the version that I saw many years ago on an ashtray belonging to my great-uncle—one of the finest human beings it has ever been my pleasure/honor to know—and it’s stuck with me ever since. ---
**Author:** ![laurelann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/5daacb/32.png) [@laurelann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/laurelann)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2005, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-latin-motto/296367/9 "2005-03-26T17:21:53Z")
> [@laurelann](#): > > Ad astra per aspera–to the stars through the trees > > De gustibus non est disputandem–about taste, it is not to be disputed my mistake, I just checked my latin dictionary after a dispute with my roommate… “aspera” is defined as a “rough place.” ---
**Author:** ![Kaboodle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8edcca/32.png) [@Kaboodle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaboodle)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2005, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-latin-motto/296367/10 "2005-03-26T18:01:18Z")
**laurelann** , Kansas likes that motto too. [Kansas Seal](http://www.ksgovernor.org/kansas_seal.html) > [@](#): > > The motto which appears on the Great Seal, “Ad astra per aspera,” is Latin for “To the stars through difficulties.” ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2005, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-latin-motto/296367/11 "2005-03-26T18:19:30Z")
_Bibamus, Moriendenium Est_–Death is Certain. Let’s Drink. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2005, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-latin-motto/296367/12 "2005-03-26T18:51:38Z")
One of my favourite squadron patches is this: A circular patch with a banner below. The patch and banner are bordered in red, and the fields of the patch and banner are completely black. Around the top circumference of the patch is: _Si Ego Certiorem Faciam_ The banner reads: _Mihi Tu Delendus Eris_ Again, I don’t speak Latin; but I think it literally means ‘If I were to make it a certainty to you, you will be deleted to me.’ Colloquially, it means [If I tell you, I will have to kill you.](http://www.proz.com/?eid_s=19684&float=y&glossary=1477&sp=mt) (ninth entry from the bottom). This patch was used by VX-4 at NAS Pt. Mugu in the 1990s for a Top Secret project. (I liked it because I was also involved in a TS project at the time, though not at Pt. Mugu.) **Meanwhile, many minutes later…** [I’ve drawn a picture of the patch](http://pw1.netcom.com/~heliboy/vx4.gif). ---
**Author:** ![Ghanima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Ghanima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ghanima)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2005, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-latin-motto/296367/13 "2005-03-26T19:17:41Z")
_ **Nolite te Bastardes Carborundorum** _ Don’t let the bastards grind you down. ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2005, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-latin-motto/296367/14 "2005-03-26T19:46:45Z")
aut viam inveniam aut faciam My latin’s rusty, but I think that translates to “I will either find a way, or make one.” ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2005, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-latin-motto/296367/15 "2005-03-26T20:12:41Z")
_abortio, supplicium, sicario – cunctus est bonus_ At least that’s as far as my sad Latin will take me… ---
**Author:** ![gum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bbe5ce/32.png) [@gum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gum)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2005, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-latin-motto/296367/16 "2005-03-26T20:26:48Z")
For me: ‘Aude sapere’ - Dare to know Zeeland, a province of the Netherlands, that was hit by floods in 1953 has ‘Luctor et Emergo’ as a motto. ‘I struggle and emerge’ ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2005, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-latin-motto/296367/17 "2005-03-26T20:31:10Z")
Veni, Vidi, Velcro. “I came, I saw, I stuck around.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![EmeraldGrue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dc4da7/32.png) [@EmeraldGrue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmeraldGrue)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2005, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-latin-motto/296367/18 "2005-03-26T21:17:27Z")
I’d say _sapere aude_ - dare to be wise. (On Massey College’s coat of arms, **Kyth** , if you ever pass by.) I wanted “for the cultivation of irony”, but the Classics friend who tried to translate it said that there isn’t a Latin word for irony. The motto for our college’s frosh week was _deponite libros, tollite pocula_ - drop your books and raise your glasses! ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2005, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-latin-motto/296367/19 "2005-03-26T21:31:16Z")
_Bibo ergo sum_. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2005, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-latin-motto/296367/20 "2005-03-26T21:47:03Z")
I’ve never actually thought about having one. I suppose this one would be as good as any: “Eos pedica nisi jocum percipere possent” (“Bugger 'em if they can’t take a joke”). If I wrote verse, I’d use this joke one I saw somewhere - “Cogito ergo poet” - I think, therefore iamb. > [@ivylass](#): > > Apparently, there is no Latin for [Everything in Moderation](http://www.freedict.com/onldict/onldict.php). > > The Romans were such sybarites. I know the Greek phrase is “mêden agan”, meaning literally “nothing too much”, which is subtly different. I’ve forgotten almost al of my Latin, so it’s just a guess that would be something like “nihil nimis”. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-latin-motto/296367.md?page=2)