I enjoyed going through this list - so I thought you might too!
Here are a few to wet your taste buds:
- a thought-provoking one: Deorum iniuriae Diis curae. ("Offences to the gods are the concern of the gods." - Perhaps very apt in these times of religious tension.)
- a kind of meta-proverb: Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum videtur. ("Anything said in Latin sounds profound." )
- a weird one: Temeas simium meum. ("Hold my monkey!" - Eh?)
Pecunia non olet ("money does not smell"). The phrase originally related to the urine tax levied by the Roman emperors Nero and Vespasian in the 1st century upon the collection of urine! Food for thought for the IRS!
Not to be the local pedant, but just a quick note on the "monkey" quote. Don't know where this came from but "temeas," to my knowledge, is not a Latin word - "teneas" is and signifies "may you hold," which in the quote would roughly translate as "may you hold my monkey" (I don't believe this has any notable usage in historic Latin).
"Teneo" (Latin: hold) comes into English with words such as "tenor" (one who holds (a note)), "tenacity" (the quality of holding on doggedly), "tenant" (one who holds possession), many others.
Comments
I enjoyed going through this list - so I thought you might too!
Here are a few to wet your taste buds:
- a thought-provoking one: Deorum iniuriae Diis curae. ("Offences to the gods are the concern of the gods." - Perhaps very apt in these times of religious tension.)
- a kind of meta-proverb: Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum videtur. ("Anything said in Latin sounds profound." )
- a weird one: Temeas simium meum. ("Hold my monkey!" - Eh?)
There are plenty of others, go and discover.
Pecunia non olet ("money does not smell"). The phrase originally related to the urine tax levied by the Roman emperors Nero and Vespasian in the 1st century upon the collection of urine! Food for thought for the IRS!
Thanks for the post - very thought-provoking.
Not to be the local pedant, but just a quick note on the "monkey" quote. Don't know where this came from but "temeas," to my knowledge, is not a Latin word - "teneas" is and signifies "may you hold," which in the quote would roughly translate as "may you hold my monkey" (I don't believe this has any notable usage in historic Latin).
"Teneo" (Latin: hold) comes into English with words such as "tenor" (one who holds (a note)), "tenacity" (the quality of holding on doggedly), "tenant" (one who holds possession), many others.
Well, I guess I am the local pedant (see, e.g., http://grellas.com/article_word_origins_fero.html).