Parva leves capiunt animas

If you’re just an ordinary schlub who would like to sound erudite and scholarly, nothing does the trick quite like sprinkling your conversation with Latin phrases. Here are some that you’re sure to find useful in common everyday situations:

Magister Mundi sum.
I am the Master of the Universe.

Sentio aliquos togatos contra me conspirare.
I think some people in togas are plotting against me.

Si hoc legere scis nimium eruditionis habes. 
If you can read this, you’re overeducated.

Mellita, domi adsum. 
Honey, I’m home.

Totum dependeat.
Let it all hang out.

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

Quo signo nata es?
What’s your sign?

Caesar si viveret, ad remum dareris.
If Caesar were alive, you’d be chained to an oar.

Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?
How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

Noli me vocare, ego te vocabo.
Don’t call me, I’ll call you.

Nullo metro compositum est.
It doesn’t rhyme.

Non curo. Si metrum non habet, non est poema.
I don’t care. If it doesn’t rhyme, it isn’t a poem.

Fac ut gaudeam.
Make my day.

Braccae illae virides cum subucula rosea et tunica Caledonia-quam elenganter concinnatur!
Those green pants go well with that pink shirt and plaid jacket!

Sic faciunt omnes.
Everyone is doing it.

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

Utinam barbari spatium proprium tuum invadant.
May barbarians invade your personal space.

Fac ut vivas.
Get a life.

Utinam coniurati te in foro interficiant.
May conspirators assassinate you in the mall.

Fac me cocleario vomere.
Gag me with a spoon.

Te audire no possum. Musa sapientum fixa est in aure.
I can’t hear you. I have a banana in my ear.

In vita priore ego imperator Romanus fui.
In a previous life I was a Roman Emperor.

Utinam logica falsa tuam philosophiam totam suffodiant.
May faulty logic undermine your entire philosophy.

Si hoc signum legere potes, operis boni in rebus Latinus alacribus et fructuosis potiri potes.
If you can read this sign, you can get a good job in the fast-paced, high-paying world of Latin.

Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam.
I have a catapult. Give me all the money, or I will fling an enormous rock at your head.

Sentio aliquos togatos contra me conspirare.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 31st, 2023 at 11:55 am and is filed under simple pleasures. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

40 Responses to Parva leves capiunt animas

  1. jowensauthor says:
    January 31, 2023 at 12:03 pm

    Reblogged this on Jeanne Owens, author.

    Liked by 1 person

  2. atimetoshare.me says:
    January 31, 2023 at 12:04 pm

    I love them all. Especially the last one. How do I use these in everyday conversation?🥸

    Liked by 2 people

  3. jenny_o says:
    January 31, 2023 at 12:08 pm

    Oh, how I wish we had learned these in Latin class in high school! It would have been way more exciting. “I have a banana in my ear” indeed. lol

    Liked by 4 people

  4. Corrie.S.P. says:
    January 31, 2023 at 12:18 pm

    Perfection.
    Non calor sed umor est qui nobis incommodat

    Liked by 2 people

  5. Flugelman says:
    January 31, 2023 at 12:43 pm

    My all time favorite Latin expression:
    Illegitimi non carborundum

    Don’t let the bastards wear you down.

    Liked by 2 people

  6. trentpmcd says:
    January 31, 2023 at 12:56 pm

    I think the one about the marmota, I mean woodchuck, is even more of a tongue twister in Latin!

    Liked by 3 people

  7. Michelle says:
    January 31, 2023 at 1:35 pm

    This would make a great app. I’d totally download it.

    Liked by 4 people

  8. adamjasonp says:
    January 31, 2023 at 3:01 pm

    Leggo my Ego sum dominus universi !

    Liked by 3 people

  9. Peter's pondering says:
    January 31, 2023 at 3:14 pm

    Caesar adsum iam forte brutus aderat!

    Liked by 1 person

  10. Linda Lee Adams/Lady Quixote says:
    January 31, 2023 at 5:36 pm

    How do you say “It’s Greek to me” in Latin?

    Liked by 3 people

  11. Geoff Stamper says:
    January 31, 2023 at 7:21 pm

    Well, these are a lot more fun than “all Gaul is divided into three parts” or “I came, I saw, I conquered.” The only Latin I ever use is O tempora, O mores” and “Sic volvere parcas.”

    Liked by 1 person

  12. Herb says:
    January 31, 2023 at 7:33 pm

    I really liked that last one!

    Liked by 1 person

  13. Cederq says:
    January 31, 2023 at 8:47 pm

    I could use some of those phrases! I had a choice in high school, Spanish, Russian or Latin, I choose Russian and outside of “Da” that is all I remember. Now Latin, I could have insulted some one and seemed a bright magnanimous genius doing it

    Liked by 1 person

  14. Nick says:
    January 31, 2023 at 10:46 pm

    I didn’t take Latin. Latin took me. Veni, vidi, flunki!!!

    Liked by 2 people

  15. #1LinerWeds from “Bluebird of Bitterness” – The Sound of One Hand Typing says:
    February 1, 2023 at 2:30 am

    […] Thanks, Bluebird! […]

    Liked by 1 person

  16. The Sicilian Storyteller says:
    February 1, 2023 at 6:11 am

    Hoc terribilis est!! 🤣
    (And it’s not what you’re thinking)

    Liked by 2 people

  17. The Sicilian Storyteller says:
    February 1, 2023 at 6:15 am

    Reblogged this on The Elephant's Trunk and commented:
    IGNORE THE FUNNY APOSTROPHE WHICH POPS UP EVERY TIME I TRY TO REBLOG SOMETHING AND READ ON. HOC TERRIBILIS EST, DUDE! ALMOST AS GOOD AS MEL BROOKS!

    Liked by 1 person

  18. egorr says:
    February 1, 2023 at 1:13 pm

    Well, in High School I had to learn a second language. Believe it or not, I got by with Fortran and COBOL!
    Yes, I was TRIlingual.
    (That was back in 1970, when computer programming hadn’t worked its way into the masses. FYI, what I originally learned is now referenced as Fort66 and F-COBOL and its companion, D-COBOL)

    Who needs Latin??

    Liked by 1 person

  19. lesleyscoble says:
    February 3, 2023 at 2:19 am

    I have a catapult! haha I am learning this one right now!

    Liked by 2 people

  20. V.M.Sang says:
    February 3, 2023 at 4:18 am

    I loved this. I did Latin at school (O-level Latin, failed) and hated it. But I’m glad I did now as I think it helps with English, and learning other languages. Those Romans got about a bit, didn’t they!
    Some of these I managed to get a bit of, others were incomprehensible. I’ll try to learn a few of them though.

    Liked by 2 people

%d bloggers like this: