|
Culpa est mea |
"The fault is mine,"
Dear Abby's favorite |
|
Senatus populusque
Romanus |
"The Senate and
the Roman people," seen today mostly in Rome on manhole
covers, street lampposts, etc., and it can be seen in slides
and pictures of Rome |
|
Persona non grata |
"A person unwelcome,"
used in diplomacy |
|
E pluribus unum |
"One from many,"
motto of United States seal seen on money |
|
Lapsus linguae |
"A slip of the
tongue," sometimes in newspapers. |
|
Esse quam videri |
"To be rather than
to seem," Sallust said this of Cato; it is also the motto
of North Carolina |
|
Condemnant quod non
intellegunt |
"They condemn because
they do not understand," a phrase used to defend almost
anything |
|
Sic semper tyrannis |
"Thus always to
tyrants," the state motto of Virginia |
|
Sic transit gloria
mundi |
"Thus passes the
glory of the world" |
|
Veni, vidi, vici |
"I came, I saw,
I conquered," the most quoted saying of Caesar |
|
Habeas corpus |
"You may (must)
have the body," a legal term |
|
In hoc signo vinces |
"In this sign you
will conquer," found on a {gasp} cigarette pack |
|
Quo vadis |
"Where are you
going?"
Click
image to see a larger version |
|
Tempus fugit |
"Time flies,"
a phrase from Virgil |
|
Summum Bonum |
"The Greatest Good" |
|
Verbum sat sapienti |
"A word to the
wise is enough" |
|
Te morituri salutamus |
"We who are about
to die salute you" |
|
Semper fidelis |
"Always faithful,"
motto of the Marines |
|
Carpe diem |
"Seize the day,"
a phrase from Horace found many places, such as t - shirts
 |
|
Status quo |
"The State in Which
(we are)" |
|
Cui bono |
"To whom for a
good? (Who got the profit?)," a phrase from Cicero |
|
Quid pro quo |
"What for what,"
a phrase that denotes an exchange |
|
Non sequitur |
"It does not follow" |
|
Dum spiro, spero |
"While I breathe,
I hope" |
|
Per Diem |
"By the Day,"
a phrase used in business |
|
Pro bono publico |
"For the public
good," a legal case done for free - called probono |
|
Non compos mentis |
"Not sound of mind,"
a legal term |
|
Sui generis |
"Of its own kind,"
unique |
|
Mens conscia recti |
"A mind conscious
of right" |
|
Caveat Emptor |
"Let the buyer
beware" |
|
Mens sana in corpore
sano |
"A sound mind in
a sound body" |
|
Nil disputandum de
gustibus |
"No disputing about
tastes" |
|
Sunt lacrimae rerum |
"There are tears
for things," a phrase from Virgil's Aeneid |
|
Descensus Averno
facilis est |
"Easy is the descent
to Avernus," a phrase from Virgil's Aeneid |
|
Timeo Danaos et dona
ferentes |
"I fear the Greeks
even bearing gifts," a phrase from Virgil's Aeneid |
|
Quod Sum Eris |
"I am what you
will be," a motto for a gravestone |
|
Sine Qua Non |
"Without which
nothing," an absolute necessity |
|
Pro Tempore |
"For the Time Being,"
business, protem |
|
Cogito, ergo sum |
"I think, therefore
I am" |
|
Nihil de nihilo fit |
"Nothing comes
from nothing," simplified from Lucretius |
|
Pons Asinorum |
"The Bridge of
Fools," anything that divides the capable from the incapable,
e.g., a geometry problem, a type of medieval SAT |
