Altum Videtur: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

{{quote| ''"Quidquid latine dictum (sit),<ref>As noted below, Latin is big on ellipsis, so this word can be elided without any problem, but retained because that's by far the most widespread form of this quote.</ref> [[Trope Namer|altum videtur]]."''<ref>"Anything said in Latin seems profound". Much more literally: Whatever it would be that has been said in Latin is seen highly.</ref>}}

 

Latin is a mysterious language. It's been effectively dead for one and a half thousand years, yet somehow, it is still being used, even omnipresent in popular culture. Maybe it's that distinct, laconic sound of it unlike anything else. Maybe it's the association with the greatest [[Vestigial Empire]] of the Western world. Maybe it's the fact that it is still the [[Sacred Language|official religious language]] of the [[Christianity Is Catholic|Roman Catholic Church]]. Or it's just because Latin makes you sound and feel [[Smart People Know Latin|smart]] and badass, with all the scientific terminologies and [[Ominous Latin Chanting]]. Whatever the reason, Latin sounds awesome to most people. And that's [[Rule of Cool|enough of a reason]] to [[Mundane Made Awesome|gratuitously stick it onto any work of fiction out there.]]

See also [[Gratuitous Foreign Language]].

----

 

* [[Canis Latinicus]]

* [[Smart People Know Latin]]

----

 

== Librī Comicōrum ==

** Later [[Don Rosa]] wrote a sequel, "The Lost Charts of Columbus", where Donald finally got the chance to tell the lawyer and his client "Aqua concus dipporum" ("Go soak your head").

* In [[Grant Morrison]]'s [[Justice League of America|JLA]] [[Mirror World|Earth Two]] when the Flash asks about the [[Evil Counterpart|Crime Syndicate's]] motto "Cui Bono," the good Lex Luthor from the evil universe naturally knows its means "Who profits?" which prompts him to begin wondering who could profit from their current predicament {{spoiler|his train of thought is cut short by an attack the not-so-enslaved-as-we-thought Brainiac who realizes that Lex is about to figure out what he's up to.}}

 

== Pelliculae ==

 

* ''[[Top Secret]]!''. While Nick Rivers is in prison, he's taken out of his cell and led to an execution room by a priest speaking common Latin phrases such as "corpus delicti" and "quid pro quo". It eventually derails into Pig Latin, and translates literally as "You're going to get fried in the chair".

 

== Līterae ==

 

* [[Jim Butcher]] likes Latin, apparently. The ''[[Codex Alera]]'' is heavily sprinkled with [[Gratuitous Latin]] thanks to its cast mostly consisting of "magical Romans." Perhaps most notably, Aleran names all tend to mean something, be it [[Non-Indicative Name|ironic]] ([[Names to Trust Immediately|Fidelias]] the [[Wild Card]] with [[Chronic Backstabbing Disorder]]) or [[Meaningful Name|appropriate]] ([[Green-Eyed Monster|Invidia]] the [[Lady Macbeth|evil]], overly-ambitious bitch).

{{quote| Friar Tuck: ''Ossa ejus perfringam,'' I shall break your bones, as the Vulgate hath it. (Referring to the Vulgate Bible, the translation used by the Church in those days).}}

* In addition to the title, the web-novel ''[[Domina (Literature)|Domina]]'' <ref>"the lady," as in the mistress of a house or city</ref> uses Latin in a number of other places. Every chapter title is a Latin word, and one of the major gangs is Necessarius <ref>"necessary"</ref>.

 

== Televisio Vīva ==

 

* In ''[[The West Wing]]'', when President Bartlet conducts his [[Rage Against the Heavens]] in the National Cathedral, he starts yelling at God in Latin.

** "Lupus Deus Est" from "Tooth and Claw"

** The Ood's songs in the episodes "Planet of the Ood" (which turned into a full choir for a reprise "Journey's End") and ''The End of Time'' are in Classical Ood, but [[Translator Microbes|translated by the TARDIS]] into ridiculously bad Latin for human ears.

* Any time a ''[[Star Trek (Franchise)|Star Trek]]'' episode from any series uses a Latin title, you can be assured that the title, when translated, carries significant meaning to the plot of the episode.

** The ''[[Star Trek Deep Space Nine (TV)|Star Trek Deep Space Nine]]'' episode “Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges”<ref>"In times of war, laws fall silent."</ref> is concerning the usage of underhanded methods to change the political structure of the Romulan empire in the Federation's favor (with a war going on, no less). One of the characters even does a [[Title Drop]] during the episode.

 

== Mangae Et Picturae Animatae Iaponenses ==

 

* ''[[Simoun]]'' features a small dictionary worth of Latin and Latin-sounding terms to designate various technologies and concepts: from the deity Tempus Spatium ("Time Space"); through country names Simulacrum ("[[wikipedia:Simulacrum|likeness, similarity]]"), Argentum ("silver"), and Plumbum ("lead"); to pilot roles auriga ("charioteer", the primary pilot) and sagitta ("arrow", the navigator and gun controller). These last two terms are also constellations, for additional [[Theme Naming]] fun.

 

== Musica ==

 

* The German neo-medieval band ''Corvus Corax'' parodies this trope on one of its shirts with the words, "Omnia dicta fortiora, si dicta latina" which means, "[[Everything Sounds Sexier in French|Everything sounds more impressive when said in Latin.]]"

 

== Lūdī Lūsī In Mensā ==

 

* ''[[Vampire: The Requiem (Tabletop Game)|Vampire: The Requiem]]'' has a lot of terminology either directly imported from, or [[Canis Latinicus|inspired by]] Latin, presumably related to the fact that vampire society is static, at best. Although [http://wiki.white-wolf.com/worldofdarkness/index.php?title=Ancilla_(Vampire:_The_Requiem) justified], it is still amusing to note that Ancilla, a word used to refer to "middle-aged" vampires, translates quite readily as "slave woman."

** Fangame [[Genius: The Transgression (Tabletop Game)|Genius: The Transgression]] has the [[Vestigial Empire|Lemurians]], who formed around the time of Rome and their terminology is derived from it. [[Canis Latinicus|As with most modern people, they often aren't very good at speaking it]]...most of the time. In the case of [[Fun With Acronyms|PLPKBs (Proper Latin Plural Knowing Bastards)]], this means they are [[Time Abyss|very old]] or [[Determinator|obsessive enough to teach themselves the language]], which, when dealing with a [[Mad Scientist]], should probably set off danger sirens in the minds of their opponents.

 

== Lūdī Scaenicī ==

* In Humperdinck's opera ''Hansel and Gretel'', the witch chants, "Hocus pocus, bonus jocus, malus locus, hocus pocus." Though "hocus pocus" is meaningless, the rest translates as "good joke, bad place."

* [[Cyrano De Bergerac]]:

{{quote| ''(Cries are heard outside.)'' <br />

'''Jodelet''' ''(who has looked out):'' They hoot Montfleury! <br />

** Act II Scene VII, when a cadet shows the hats of the thugs Cyrano defeated, Captain Carbon says: ''Spolia opima!'' <ref> ''rich spoils/trophies'', refers to the armor, arms, and other effects that an ancient Roman general had stripped from the body of an opposing commander slain in single, hand-to-hand combat.</ref>

* A running gag in ''[[Loves Labours Lost]]'' is that a couple of blowhard characters are full of this, and love to correct each other for using grammar incorrectly and such. This annoys [[Bratty Half-Pint|Moth]], the local [[Servile Snarker]], who remarks, "They have been at a great feast of languages, and stolen the scraps."

 

== Lūdī Ēlectronicī ==

 

* The Judicians in ''[[Twenty Twenty Seven|2027]]''.

 

== Libellī Pictī De Interrete ==

 

* A subversive [http://techhouse.brown.edu/cgi-bin/fluble/vault.pl?date=20000118 example] from ''[[Fluble (Webcomic)|Fluble]]'' (Mind you, Death's Latin is incorrect: ''hystrix'' means "porcupine").

* ''[[Breakfast of the Gods]]'': Jarvis's final spell is in decent Latin, except for one word in English. Saying what the spell is would be a ''huge'' spoiler for the whole work.

* ''[[Mullein Fields]]'': [http://www.mulleinfields.com/2005/09/13/the-craziest-dream/ Adeo mihi bardus bus!] (See comments for a translation)

 

== Opera De Interrete ==

 

* In ''[[Dept Heaven Apocrypha]]'', the school and its four colleges have Latin names, and Nessiah's spellcasting tends to be in Latin and Greek.

 

== Picturae Animatae Occidentales ==

 

* In ''[[Gargoyles (Animation)|Gargoyles]]'', all the mortal spells were in Latin. Because anything said in Latin sounds profound and [[Ominous Latin Chanting|Ominous.]] [[Word of God]] says that the book containing most of those spells was written by a magus working for Emperor Augustus; naturally, Latin was his first language.<ref>[[Word of God]] also adds that any language can be used for magic, provided the spell is composed by a magus and pronounced correctly. Indeed, in the show some are in Hebrew and at least one is cast in English.</ref>

 

== VERITAS ==

* All Roman Catholic Church records are in Latin, so this leads to them creating Latin words for things that just weren't around when the Romans were, such as "Interrēte", which means "Internet" as seen in the folder headings on this page.

* Nova Roma, an international organization "dedicated to the study and restoration of ancient Roman culture". Including the Cultus Deorum Romanorum.

* ''Nuntii Latini'', the Latin news report.

* Many [[Badass Creed|Badass Creeds]] are in Latin, such as ''Semper Fidelis'' (USMC), ''Semper Paratus'' (USCG), ''Per Mare, Per Terram'' (Royal Marines), ''Ad Astra Per Aspera'' (NASA), ''Citius, Altius, Fortius'' (The Olympics), and so on.

* ''Volvo'', Latin for ''I roll''

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Gratuitous Foreign Language]]

[[Category:Self Demonstrating Article]]