Latin Phrases Everyone Should Know!

Schools don’t teach Latin Anymore. It’s a shame really, because now when these uneducated fools get into real life, and find themselves in legal trouble, or with a medical condition, someone will have to stupefy the meanings of terms for them. And I would imagine if anyone who wants a chance at being a return champion on Jeopardy might find some of these terms useful, as well!

Granted, its been many a year since Caesar uttered “Et tu, Brute” and pronounced the “ides of March are come” but that doesn’t mean it should be forgotten. And in case you’re wondering what exactly the “ides of march” is, it means march 15th- but it can also be the 15th of May, July or October, and to further complicate the situation, it means the thirteenth of any other month. So now for the basic Latin terms, that should be stored in library in your cerebrum.

Ad hoc: Literally meaning “for this,” usually means improvised.

Ad infinitum (not to be confused with et cetera): “To infinity, without end.”

Caveat emptor: “Let the buyer beware.”

Citius altius fortius: “Faster, higher, stronger” – the motto of the modern Olympics.

Columbarium: A collective tomb in ancient Rome that was also used as a house for pigeons and doves.

Corpus christi: “The body of Christ.” It has nothing to do with the city in Texas.

Cuius est solum eius est usque ad coelum et ad inferos: “Whoever owns the land it is theirs up to the sky and down to the depths.” The state of Kansas used this law in the 1970s to argue that airlines could not serve liquor when flying over Kansas, a dry state. “Kansas,” Attorney General Vern Miller said, “goes all the way up and all the way down.” (If that’s true, Kansas can lay claim to, and prohibit drinking in, about 82,282 square miles of western China.)

Deus ex machina: “A god from the machine,” usually referring to an awkward and contrived resolution to conflict. The phrase got its start from the plays of Euripides, in which a god was lowered down onto the stage via a mechanical crane to sort out intractable conflicts and confused plots.

Et ignotas animum dimittit in artes: “And he sent forth his spirit among the unknown arts.” A beautiful quote from Ovid.

Id est: “That is,” often abbreviated “i.e.”

In medias res: “In the middle of things.” Stories like Paradise Lost or The Odyssey or Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire begin in the middle.

Ipso facto: “By the very fact,” i.e., “absolutely, regardless of circumstances.”

Lupus est homo homini: “Man is wolf to man.” No one knew this better than the Romans.

Magnum opus: Great work.

Nolo contendere: When you want to enter a plea of No contest” in as fancy a way as possible.

Opus Dei: “The work of God” or “An outsized villain in a best-selling novel.”

Quod erat demonstrandum: “That which was to be demonstrated.” Abbreviated QED, often the end of a mathematical proof.

Sic semper tyrannis: “Thus always to tyrants,” the motto of Virginia and the first thing John Wilkes Booth said after shooting Abraham Lincoln.

Sic transit gloria: “Glory fades”

Sub poena: “Under penalty,” as in “Do this or else.”

Tabula rasa: A “blank slate” – John Locke’s description of the human mind without knowledge.

Veni, vidi, vici: “I came, I saw, I conquered,” and the most oft-mispronounced Latin phrase in the world. It should be pronounced, WAY-nee, WEE-dee, WEE-kee.