Fun with Latin

I put a couple of Latin phrases on my Facebook this past week. I got two of them from a book I had been reading. Yesterday one of my friends put up this phrase:

Testiculos habet, et bene pendentes.

Nothing else would do but that I should look it up. I found it by Google in several places but this is the one from Wikipedia:

According to mediæval legend, in the 9th century (855-858) an English woman disguised herself as a man to be allowed to enter Holy Orders. It was claimed that she rose to prominence with her Order before being elected pope. Her deception was only unearthed when she collapsed in childbirth during a papal procession through Rome. According to one version, the angry crowd then stoned to death Pope Joan and her newborn child. All subsequent popes were then supposedly subjected to an examination whereby, having sat on a dung chair containing a hole called sedia stercoraria, a cardinal had to reach up and establish that the new pope had testicles, before solemnly announcing "Duos habet et bene pendentes" — "He has two, and they dangle nicely." While the story of Pope Joan is attested to by some respected mediæval historians who repeated as fact traditional accounts of her supposed reign, it has been generally dismissed by historians since the 17th century as a fabrication.

But it got me to thinking about some Latin phrases I had seen on a web site. I share some of them with you below:


Se non e vero, e ben trovato.
It isn't true, it's a good story.

One I liked when I was in High School
Illegitimati non carborundum.
Don't let the bastards grind you down.

I used to say X, Y, Z when this happened (Examine Your Zipper)
Braccae tuae aperiuntur.
Your fly is open

This is handy at the computer shop.
Ne auderis delere orbem rigidum meum!
Don't you dare erase my hard disk!

A couple of pick-up lines (but I would not know as I am OLD.)
Quo signo nata es?
What's your sign?

Romani quidem artem amatoriam invenerunt
You know, the Romans invented the art of love.

If the answer is no you are -
Raptus regaliter.
Royally screwed.

You could say:
Re vera, potas bene.
Say, you sure are drinking a lot.

of course this works also

Bibere humanum est, ergo bibamus.
To drink is human, let us therefore drink.

Waxing philosophically you can say:

Cogito, ergo sum.
I think, therefore I am.

or perhaps more to the point
Cogito, ergo doleo.
I think, therefore I am depressed.

Tam exanimis quam tunica nehru fio.
I am as dead as the nehru jacket.

Speaking of the dead -

Credo Elvem ipsum etian vivere.
I think that Elvis is still alive

Nihil est-in vita priore ego imperator Romanus fui.
That's nothing-in a previous life I was a Roman Emperor.

A multitude of phrases for a multitude of uses.

Balaenae nobie conservandae sunt.
Save the whales.

Prehende uxorem meam, sis!
Take my wife, please!

Canis meus id comedit.
My dog ate it.

Feles mala! Cur cista non uteris? Stramentum novum in ea posui.
Bad kitty! Why don't you use the cat box? I put new litter in it.

Non calor sed umor est qui nobis incommodat.
It's not the heat, it's the humidity.

Revelare pecunia!
Show me the money!

Noli me vocate, ego te vocabo.
Don't call me, I'll call you.

Purgamentum init, exit purgamentum.
Garbage in, garbage out.

Totum dependeat.
Let it all hang out.

Da mihi sis crustum Etruscum cum omnibus in eo.
I'll have a pizza with everything on it.

I like this one.. I can see many uses for

Recedite, plebes! Gero rem imperialem!
Stand aside plebians! I am on imperial business!

Now I am done
Obesa cantavit.
The fat lady has sung.
I need to stop being a
Radix lecti.
Couch potato.
and
Fac ut vivas.
Get a life.


Gratiae pro stopping per.
Thanks for stopping by

Die dulci fruere.
Have a nice day.