I love this sort of junk: Heraldry Mottoes. A site with the translations to scores of traditional old mottoes (mostly Latin or French ones).
Sometimes, I kinda think of 'em as a sort of yesteryear equivalent to a bumpersticker or some proudly hung calendar sprinkled with daily motivational quotes and other "be the best" kinds of affirmations. Virtus in arduis, which the site says means "Courage in difficulties" in Latin, would be just at home on some manager trainee's cubicle wall today as it was on some poor sword-fodder's shield back then, don't you think?
But, truly, my delight in these, my favorites, are the kinda off-the-wall ones. The ones that make ya wonder if a quantity of grog or something might have been involved.
"Motto! We gotta have a motto? They're SOOO stuffy and booring."
"Hey! How 'bout 'Free Grog!' That'll really bunch up the tights on those pious motto types!"
"Nah. That's already taken. Last year. The pious types didn't even blink -- they just quietly tacked on the word 'temperance" to their old virtue, virtue, blah, blah, blah motto."
"Oh, hell, screw this. Just scribble down the first stupid thing that comes to mind on that cocktail napkin. Yes, I said cocktail napkin."
"....?"
"Yes, we did have them in Medieval days. I swear it -- on my family's crest!"
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You know it could be the way it happened.
I'm sure we all know the kinds of things that end up on cocktail napkins.
Perhaps these, for example?
Delectat et ornat
Translated from Latin on the Heraldry site to mean:
It is both pleasing and ornamental (Latin)
or this:
Erectus non elatus
Latin for: Exalted but not elated
YEAH, I like that one. I'm exalted, but not elated most any day! I'd stand under that banner (especially if it rains)!
And I know I know a few people who'd kill for "It is pleasing and ornamental."
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Hey, a little game suggestion/ time-waster idea for the idle and listless. Pick what your motto would be for the day from that site and leave it in comments here.
(I know Melusine will play this one, if no one else! -- It's like the old Latin sayings thing we played with years ago, don't you think, Melusine?)
And now I must bid you adieu with this thought/motto:
I shine but do not burn (Latin)
pity ...
A Boston Globe article titled Against Types (link via Arts & Letters Daily.) points out the criticisms levelled against various personality type tests.
I am intrigued by personality tests, but I am utterly against them being used to qualify or disqualify anyone for tangible things -- like jobs or involuntary institutionalization.
I think an ultimate personality typer, though, is to interpret the interpreter's description of a type and figure out from how they describe someone else's type what type they'd likely be. That, as they say, would be telling.
Or maybe this is the real ultimate. From an old Columbo episode where the suspect happened to be a psychiatrist. On one of Columbo's visits to his prey, the psychiatrist says to Columbo:
"I haven't given you a Rorschach test yet, but my guess is you're a bourbon man."
From an article in the Telegraph UK:
"The Vatican has helpfully produced a new lexicon of modern words in Latin, providing translations for such non-classical terms as playboy, hot pants, nightclub and Merlot."
...and further down in the article:
"The Latinitas Foundation is an academic institution founded in 1976 by Pope Paul VI with the intention of preserving and evolving the Latin language. It publishes a quarterly review in Latin and a Latin dictionary that runs to 780 pages."
The article mentions a few examples of these new words, including "punkianae catervae assecla" -- which is "punk" in the new Latin.
Almost begs the question: how many punkianae catervae assecla can dance on the edge of a razor blade anyway?
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Speaking of the Pope, the Vatican, and words, I'm suddenly reminded of a story from some months ago about a petition sent to the Pope. So, now I can't help wondering if the Vatican ever did get back to France on their 5th deadly sin reclassification query.
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Ah, the contemplative life, eh?
An addendum to the previous entry. Part of the lexicon of new Latin words is here on the Vatican's site.
Oh, some of these are too, too good.
I think Melusine should make a point of memorizing a few for her upcoming trip to Italy next month.
We like to supply Melusine with phrases for her European jaunts. I recall some years ago when she went to France, the Marquis and I taught her just two phrases for her trip. And those were: "frappez-moi" (spank me) and "où est la bibliothèque?" (where's the library?).
