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Canis Latinicus: Difference between revisions
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But what happens when you run out of Latin? Or if your spell or radioactive element has some attribute that you don't know how to name? Well, just make up some new Latin! It's easy: take an English word -- any will do -- drop any vowels from the end, and add ''-us'', ''-icus'', or ''-ium''. If you're naming a town, use the extension ''-opolis'' (although the extension is actually Greek, not Latin. Real Latin would have you using the extension ''-ium'' or ''-ia''). Ta-daa! Instant Latin! This use of Latin, as the trope name should indicate, is called "dog Latin." (Incidentally, the trope title is in fact real Latin...for "Latin dog." No, it doesn't make much sense, but [[Self-Demonstrating Article|that's rather the point]]. Plus, it sounds less like a porn actress than ''(Lingua) Latina Canina'', which is how "[[wikipedia:Dog latin|Dog Latin]]" would sound in ''real'' Latin.)
Greek is often used interchangeably with Latin for such purposes (as in the ''-opolis'' example above); few writers bother to make a distinction.
May be used in comedic versions of the [[Pretentious Latin Motto]]. Also comes in handy for [[Ominous Latin Chanting]] or a [[Parody Magic Spell]].
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** That's because latin phrases are famous quotes copied letter by letter.
* [[Donald Duck]]
** The classic "The Golden Helmet" introduces an alleged lawyer who supports all his claims with Latin-sounding phrases. For instance, when challenged to prove that his client is who he says he is, he replies nonchalantly, "''Flikkus flakkus fumlidium''," which he claims to mean "Can you prove he isn't?" And it's catching: later in the story one of Donald's nephews asks the others if they've had enough of this Dog Latin nonsense, to which his brother replies, "''Yeppus yappus yubettus.''"
** In Don Rosa's sequel, it's Donald who gets the last word (in Dog Latin) when he advises the defeated villains to "''in aqua concus dipporum''" which he claims to mean "go jump headlong in the sea."
* In the [[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]] books, the precognitive mutant Destiny wrote down several volumes of prophecy given the title ''Libris Veritatus'', probably an attempted back-formation from the word "exlibris" (''ex libris'' = "from the books") combined with the misspelled genitive ''veritatis'' ("of truth"). In proper Latin it would be ''libri veritatis''.
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** In ''[[Discworld/Jingo|Jingo]]'', a character received an honorary degree from [[Wizarding School|Unseen University]] entitled ''Doctorum Adamus cum Flabello Dulci''. {{spoiler|"Doctor of Sweet Fanny Adams", British slang for "nothing at all".}} Possibly a reference to [[Private Eye]]'s honorary degrees (see below).
** 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]]''.
** The [[Land Down Under|Ecksian]] version of Unseen University has ''Nullus Anxietas'' ("No Worries") written over the front gates.
** Also "Nulli Sheilae sanguineae" : No bloody Sheilas.
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** An undescribed type of food mentioned more than once is [[Soylent Green|"soylens viridiens"]].
* "Archaic" in [[The Queen's Thief|Megan Whalen Turner's]] novels appears to be a mix of this and [[Gratuitous Greek|kyneio:s hellenizesthai]].
* Used deliberately in ''[[The
* The [[Dr. Seuss]] character Thidwick the moose is labeled as ''Moosus antlerus''. (For the record, the real scientific term for moose is ''Alces alces''.)
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* In ''[[Final Fantasy VIII]]'', the opening song is called "Liberi Fatali", intended to mean "children of fate" or "fated children". "Liberi" is a nominative plural noun meaning "children", which they got right. "Fatali" is a singular dative/ablative adjective whose root is "fatalis," or "fated," and while the word is right, the case and number are wrong, the proper phrase should be "Liberi Fatales" or "Liberi Fati." [[Word of God]] says that this was an oversight.
* ''[http://mdfs.net/Software/JSW/JGH/Screens/BigMap.htm Jet Set Willy]'' includes a room called [[In the Name of the Moon|"Nomen Luni"]]. The correct Latin would be "Nomen ''Lunae''", since Luna is a feminine noun.
* The [[All in The Manual|manual]] for ''[[Command
* The Piranicus Giganticus (a giant Piranha Plant) from the ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]'' series games.
* ''[[Beyond Good & Evil (video game)|Beyond Good and Evil]]'' is full of these. All the [[Petting Zoo People]] have taxonomical names that ''end'' in ''Sapiens'' but are of different ''genus''; For example, Jade's "uncle", Pey'j, is a "Sus Sapiens" or "Wise Pig". Given that ''every single one'' of the Petting Zoo People are humanoid(two-handed bipeds), a more appropriate terminology would be in the vicinity of "Homo Sapiens Sus", or "Wise Pig ''Man''".
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* From ''[[Loserz]]'': [http://bukucomics.com/loserz/go/75 this strip, second panel]. Technically, that should be "{{spoiler|Slutta Maxima}}".'
* In ''[[The KAMics]]'' we have the dinosaur [http://www.drunkduck.com/The_KAMics/4770686/ Teinoknemesaurus kamus], the magic spells [http://www.drunkduck.com/The_KAMics/4800312/ Petrifacto], and [http://www.drunkduck.com/The_KAMics/4824803/ Unpetrifacto]
* ''[[Wizard School]]'' parodies with, among other spells, [http://www.meetmyminion.com/?p=1303 "Bastardized Latinium]."
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** Mikołaj Kopernik penning his name as Nicolaus Copernicus is another example, although he himself seemed to use many different variations in official documents.
** René Descartes Latinized his name as Renatus Cartesius. Hence the term "[[wikipedia:Cartesian|Cartesian]]" for anything to do with him.
** Carl von Linne Latinized his name as Carolus Linnaeus. He started the binomial nomenclature system in Latin, since Latin was a dead language that did not evolve.
** Christopher Columbus' name was a Latin/Greek-ification of Cristoforo Colombo. Same for Americus Vespucius (Amerigo Vespucci).
* [[wikipedia:Lorem Ipsum|Lorem Ipsum]] was originally actual Latin, but the present form has bits removed, in order to create a homogeneous-looking text with as little actual content as possible. This is so typesetters can concentrate on the layout of the text without being distracted by the meaning.
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* Fun to be had in the Netherlands. "Fallus Agraricus" is used to describe someone of being a 'Boerenlul' (Lit.: Farmer's Dick). Loose translation: a stupid dick.
** In German, there is the variant "Penis Rusticus", which, yes, is also supposed to mean "farmer's dick".
*** Actually means Country Dick. Or Dick and Adjoining Farm.
* Polyamory is wrong. It should be polyphilia or multiamory.
** Photomorphing is also wrong; it should be metagraphing, if anything.
* A common phrase that Latin scholars will hear from many non-Latin scholars is "Semper ubi sub ubi", which is jibberish when translated directly. The English translation is "Always where under where", but obviously sounds like "Always wear underwear." However, to many a Latin lover, this gets ''really'' old after awhile.
* For some reason, Russian schoolchildren memorize "Fortuna non phallus, manus non receptum" and "Per anum astrae non opticum". And "Lingua Latina non penis canina". The supposed translations are "Good luck is not a penis, you cannot hold on to it with your hand", "Stars are not visible through an asshole" and "Latin language is not a (thing of low importance) dog's penis".
** The last one is technically correct<ref>Except for the dropped copula, but that's acceptable in Vulgar Latin</ref>, but "penis" is a surprisingly non-obscene word in Latin, not to mention that it can mean a lot of ''other'' things as well, so the phrase falls somewhat short of its intended meaning. For it to be true to its intent it should be "verpa canina", which indeed means "dog's dick".
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