Canis Latinicus: Difference between revisions

* The [[Stoner Flick]] ''[[J-Men Forever!]]'' has the motto of the <s>G-Men</s> J-Men as "''U Cannabis Smokem''."

* The original version of Disney film ''The Shaggy Dog'' and its sequel ''The Shaggy DA'' had the incantation "in canis corpore transmuto" —&nbsp;which in real Latin would mean "I change into the body of a dog".

{{quote|'''Charley:''' ''Dominus vobiscum nabisco. Espiritu sanctum. De gustibus. Me gustibus. You gustibus. We missed the bus. They missed the bus. When's the next bus? Summa cum laude. Magna cum laude. The radio's too laude. Adeste fidelis. Centra fidelis. High fidelis. Post meridian. Ante meridian. Uncle meridian. All of the little meridians. Magna carta. Master charga. Dum procellas. Lotsa Vitalis.'' }}

 

** For starters, the city's mottos are: ''Quanti canicula ille in fenestra'', or "How much is that doggie in the window," and ''Merus in pectum et in aquam'', or "Pure in heart and water", [[Blatant Lies|for a city whose river is so polluted you could skateboard across it (''especially'' in the summer)]].

** The City Watch's motto is ''[[Dirty Harry|Fabricati Diem Pvnc]]'', apparently an abbreviated form of a previous motto (''Fabricati Diem, Pvncti Agvnt Celeriter'' -- "make the day, the moments will pass quickly"), which LOOKS as though it means "make my day, punk", but doesn't - but one the members is convinced it means "To Protect and Serve". Since at least one of them seems to be able to translate Latatian quite well otherwise, it's possible they're just fooling themselves.

** The motto of Lord Vetinari is "Sic non confectus, non reficiat" which is said to translate as "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

** Occult uses of Canis Latinicus include the [[Tome of Eldritch Lore]] ''Liber Paginarum Fulvarum'', which translates as "The Book of Yellow Pages".

** The motto for Unseen University is ''Nunc id Vides, Nunc ne Vides'', or "Now you see it, now you don't."

** The Fool's Guild has ''Dico, Dico, Dico'', or "I say, I say, I say"—a classic stage performer's line.

** Elsewhere in the same book, Vimes comes upon the remains of a statue of General Tacticus (an ancient Morporkian war hero, better at conquering than Alexander the Great), the plinth of which bears the motto "Ab hoc possum videre domum tuum," or "I can see your house from up here." This is noted to have been both a boast ''and'' a threat.

** The motto of the extended [[Grim Reaper|Death]] family is ''Non Timetis Messor''. The literal translation is ''Have No Timidity Towards He Who Gathers The Harvest'', or in plain English, ''[[Blue Öyster Cult|Don't Fear The Reaper]]''.

** In a similar vein, Nanny Ogg translates her favorite [[Bawdy Song]], for Casanunda's benefit, as "Il Porcupino Nil Sodomy Est" ("The Hedgehog Can Never Be Buggered"). Naturally, the full lyrics are never given.

** Quoting this stuff is, of course, a favorite pastime of the Lawyers Guild and by extension, its head [[Amoral Attorney|Mr Slant]]. Amusingly a lot of what he says sounds like complete nonsense, like citing someone should be released from prison on the grounds of something that translates as "pockets full of fish", but it always has actual precedent in Ankh-Morpork law. (In that case, someone was thrown into a lake, but since their pockets filled with fish, the judge determined that the whole experience had been a [[Incredibly Lame Pun|net benefit]] and the thrower could not be prosecuted.) This is a thematic reference to real-world legal examples known by funny names, such as the "fertile octogenarian", the "unborn widow", and the "[[Team Fortress 2|magical gravel pit]]". A technicality of inheritance law, known as the "rule against perpetuities", has spawned a number of such seeming absurdities.

** ''Jingo'' has him quote the doctrine of "acquiris quodcumque rapis" ("you get what you grab") in relation to the territorial dispute at the heart of the novel's plot.

* The poem "[[wikipedia:The Motor Bus|The Motor Bus]]" by A.D. Godley declines "motor bus" in every possible way as if it actually were a Latin noun phrase. Which, technically, it ''is'', except bus is a contraction of "omnibus", which is dative plural already—the nominative singular would be "omnis". Chalk it up to poetic license.

* Being set in the ''[[Warhammer 40,000]]'' universe, the ''[[Ciaphas Cain]]'' novels are similarly lousy with the stuff:

** The strip also uses it to parody [[Ominous Latin Chanting]] [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0635.html here].

* From ''[[Loserz]]'': [https://web.archive.org/web/20110223183142/http://bukucomics.com/loserz/go/75 this strip, second panel]. Technically, that should be "{{spoiler|Slutta Maxima}}".'

* ''[[Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal]]'' in an obligatory ''[[Harry Potter]]'' joke on a hidden page [http://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/2007-09-19 here] ({{spoiler|"Gofucko yourselfix!" shouted Hermione.}}).

* ''[[Devil Bear]]'' [http://thedevilbear.com/comics.php?p=919 here] and on the next page.

** [[Terry Pratchett]] has an extinct species of turtle ([[Discworld|what else?]]) (Psephophorus terrypratchetti) named after him, and keeps a fossil of it on his desk.

** ''Gingoites nannyoggiae'', (at least, as reported by the Art of Discworld), the scientific name of a particular Mesozoic plant.

** At first, ''[[Jurassic Park]]'''s movie [[Somewhere a Palaeontologist Is Crying|looked a bit odd to palaeontologists]], as the "velociraptors" were far too large. Then along came a discovery of a raptor-family dinosaur in Utah, every bit as big as the raptors in the movie and even bigger. It was dubbed ''Utahraptor spielbergi''. Technically, the animal is now called ''Utahraptor ostrommaysorum''. Another scientist, however, named a species of pterosaur (flying reptiles related to the dinosaurs) of the genus ''Coloborhynchus'', "''Coloborhynchus spielbergi''", although its validity as a separate species of ''Coloborhynchus'' is currently under debate.

** John Cleese has [[wikipedia:Bemaraha Woolly Lemur|a lemur]] named after him. As far as cuteness goes, he wins.

 

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