How many Latin expressions do you use in English?
There are quite a few Latin words and phrases that appear in English, usually in written English but sometimes in spoken English too. Some of them are used more in certain areas such as law, medicine, business etc. Generally, you do not need to learn and use many Latin phrases, but it could help you to recognize them when you see them. Here are some of the most common in a chart.
Some other Latin Sayings and Quotations:
Carpe diem! "Seize the day!" An exclamation urging someone to make the most of the present time and not worry about the future.
Cogito ergo sum. "I think, therefore I am." French philosopher Descartes' famous formula of 1641 attempting to prove his own existence.
Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori. "It is a sweet and glorious thing to die for one's country." From Horace, Odes III, 2, 13. Used by Wilfred Owen for the title of a poem about World War I, Dulce et Decorum Est.
Festina lente. "Hurry slowly." An oxymoron - similar to "more haste, less speed".
in vino veritas "in wine, truth" (meaning that a drunk man reveals the truth about himself)
Nil desperandum. "Do not despair."
per ardua ad astra "through struggle to the stars" (motto of British Royal Air Force and others) Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? "Who shall guard the guards?"
quod erat demonstrandum (QED) "which was to be demonstrated" The abbreviation is often written after a mathematical proof.
Tempus fugit. "Time flies."
Veni, vidi, vici. "I came, I saw, I conquered." The message sent by Julius Caesar to the Roman Senate after his battle in 47 BC against King Pharnaces II
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