Carpe Diem Seize the day

Ad Libitum As you wish or as desired

"Forsan et haec olim meminisse juvabit." Translation: Perhaps one day it will be pleasant to remember even these things. Or, loosely, "Maybe we'll laugh about this one day."
The famous consolation Aeneas gave to his comrades during the storm in the "Aeneid" by Vergil. Nowadays it can be shortened just to "Forsan et haec" and will get the point across.

Perhaps not my favourite, but my first ;-)

Sempre ubi sub ubi - Always where under where.

I was about 9, there were gales of laughter from my older cousins.

Amor vincit omnia - Love conquers all

Non illegitamus carborundum. Dog Latin for "Don't let the bastards wear you down."

My father always reckoned his motto was:

Nemo me impuni lacessit (no-one harms me (or mine) and gets away with it.)

My university motto was:

Rerum congnoscere causas (to know the reason/cause for all things)

I really like:

Noli me tangere for I am Caesar's

Dido

leel - that was the motto of the boat my former brother-in-law sailed on. When I had a particularly difficult shift supervisor at work a long time ago, my kids found a mug with that on it. I used it for my coffee at work. I really enjoyed putting it right next to her at the nurses' station - she had no clue.

I still have the coffee mug, and she left the unit and then the hospital waaaaaaay before I did...at the "request" of the administration.

Gallia in tre partes divisa est. Gaul is divided into three parts. An account of Caesar's Gallic Wars.
This phrase was from my first Latin school book. We had to use the boy's exam curriculum and learnt a lot about Roman warfare! I believe this has been changed. It was pointless.
When I left school, I used to mutter it to myself when I took on any new and challenging project.

Leel, I second that choice. My father had a wonderfully ornate poster in his office with that saying !

Illegitimis non carborundum est......Never let the bastards wear you down!!

Memento mori - Remember you are mortal. I am a terrible procrastinator and this inspires me to get stuff done! Although it could have the opposite effect, depending how you look at it.

Minutus cantorum, minutus balorum, minutus carborata descendum pantorum.

trans: " A little song, a little dance, a little seltzer down your pants."

"ad nauseum"

"ad infinitum"

"et al." (and the others)

"cave canem" (beware the dog)

"et tu, Brute?" (said on the Ides of March)

In pectorum non in pectore

(Think this is right)

Better on the breast than in the chest

I stand to be corrected but always thought it a great phrase for a tshirt

I'm not so fond of Latin phrases.

I think Latin is frequently used, particularly in Law, to give an unnecessary "gloss" to the situation, and to impress with erudition. My wife, who is a solicitor, tells me that the Latin phrases like "mens rea" and "actus reus" are very precise in Law, and the translations lose that precise meaning. Personally, I think that's just a cop-out. Precision isn't lost in the USA, and they don't use any Latin phrases in Law at all.

I once had a letter from a court telling me a speeding case was adjourned sine die. That was it - one sentence, and the important part of it was written in Latin. I was fine with it - I found out what it meant. But I would have felt sorry for someone who wouldn't have even known where to start.

And for those who don't know - sine die means "to another day".

This is my favourite use of Latin in literature.

Dulce et Decorum Est

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of disappointed shells that dropped behind.

GAS! Gas! Quick, boys!-- An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And floundering like a man in fire or lime.--
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.

In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,--
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.

Wilfred Owen

I like sub rosa, meaning under the rose, and signifying secret or confidential. As a collector of heirloom roses, and a lover of things mysterious and beautiful, it seems so right to me that roses are associated with secrecy.

Rosefolly

Reading a Spenser novel - he referred to some pro bono work.

That'll teach me to make the brave assertion that American lawyers don't use Latin.

The motto from my college days was the philosopher Descartes' Cogito Ergo Sum "I think therefore I am". I often wondered why it couldn't be used the other way round "I am therefore I think".

I had 3 years of Latin in high school. At first, I dreaded it, but later on, learned to actually enjoy the language and its complexities.

Here are some more of my favorites:

Tempus fugit.

Terra incognita vs. terra firma

Ave atque vale.

Magna est veritas.

And, in particular, certain flower names, e.g. Vinca Major vs. Vinca Minor.

As as avid gardener, I have many times regretted that I chose to study French instead of Latin as a high school student. I did go to France once. No one understood a word I mutilated. I was able to decipher historical markers, but since they were often available in translation anyway, I'm not sure my long-ago years of French with poor Madame McLauglin did me any good.

However, Latin I would use daily.

Rosefollt

I was just thinking about why I picked French. My third choice Spanish would also have been much more useful to me than French, as it turns out.

It was all because of Jane Eyre. Even back in those days it was one of my favorite books. It was filled with French phrases because of little Adele Varins, and the edition I had did not translate them. I do believe that I took French so I could read the French phrases in novels.

Rosefolly

Mea culpa.

Lemonhead--TPN, to me, means total parenteral nutrition (complete nutrition given by IV). Is there also a Latin meaning?

Annpan--"Gallia in tre partes divisa est" was the first sentence of my 1958 Latin I text book!

Dedtired--Mea culpa! (Through my fault!) My brother and I, in my hat and wearing a dress, used to show up at the 11 AM Mass at the last possible moment before it began, so we "had to" stand in the back of the church. As soon as we heard, "Ite missa est" ("Go, the Mass is ended," in Church Latin) we booked out of there, free for the rest of that Sunday. Oh, yeah, we always brought the bulletin to prove to my mother we really had attended church. She went to an early Mass so she could go home and have dinner ready at noon.
Nancy

Nancy, we may have had the same primer. I cannot recall the name of the author/s but mine was a worn copy from a set that was handed out to our class in 1949. They were probably printed before WW2 judging by the good paper and thick covers. We were told to be careful with them and not mark them, even with pencil.
I grew up in a time when books were precious items and I still find it hard to throw one away! Have a look at the booksellers sites and see how old books, even with torn and browning pages are still being sold. So I am not the only one to hang on to decrepit paperbacks etc.!

Rouan's and my mother went to Girls' Latin School in Boston (now part of Latin Academy, a public college prep high school) back in the era of World War II. She used to quote "Gallia in tre partes divisa est" as a memorable Latin phrase. I never studied Latin, but I think she told us that it means "All Gaul is divided into three parts". Caesar's Commentaries? Do I remember that right?

Rosefolly

Rosefolly, one of my best friends in the world went to Girls Latin, probably class of 1963. Her first name is Carmela. Any chance you crossed paths?

I studied French for five years, but since I never used it, it's mostly gone. However, on my recent trip to Paris I was surprised at how much was lurking in the back of my brain.

I wouldn't call it a favourite phrase but it is one I'll never forget because it was the only joke my Latin teacher ever made and he thought it hilarious: "Quidquid id est timeo feminas et oscula dantes", a pun on Vergil's "Quidquid id est timeo Danaos et dona ferentes". When I check this phrase now I notice that my teacher didn't even make it up himself. The class didn't enjoy it much.

Caesar's De bello Gallico must be one of the most boring books in the history of literature.

Dedtired, my mother married and moved to Pennsylvania in the early 1950's, so I never lived in Boston. Girls Latin, like Girls High in Philadelphia, was one of those superb public college prep schools that have since gone co-ed. When they did so, something wonderful was lost. I have been told by several people who attended such schools that in the absence of male students, girls become much more competitive scholars.

Rosefolly

My school was co-ed but classes were separated into boys only and girls only because of scheduling problems for the very old gym that didn't have separate locker rooms. Three girls in my class became engineers, still an unusual career choice for women in late 50'ies Sweden. I remember that the math lessons were very lively and I think boys would have had a hampering effect on the discussions.

From a plaque on my desk, handed down to me by a retiring boss long, long ago:

Aequalis faecibus, aliorsum dies.

Roughly translated: "same 'stuff', different day"

Veer, I suspect it isn't "Sum, ergo cogito" because too many people are, but don't think :-(
I've only picked up bits and pieces of Latin over the years but find it helps a lot in understanding other languages, especially when travelling in Europe. I studied French in high school and while I've never really used it since, similarly it has helped me make sense of other languages when travelling in Europe and mostly in Viet Nam (where you can see the French roots of so many Vietnamese words).

Actually, Martin Z. -- Latin is used in American law quite a lot.

For instance -
"pro bono" = "for the good" -- a lawyer working for free for a good cause
"nolo contendere" = "no contest"
"a priori" = something to do w/ statistics?
"et alia" = "and the rest"? or something like that
"res judicata" = you'll have to look this one up

And MANY, MANY "ad infinitum" more!

BTW - If a person is served w/ legal notice and is poor and uneducated -- in U.S. they can call the Bar Association and other legal advisors FREE of charge. I have done it myself and been greatly gratified at the patience, thoroughness, and ultimately, the accuracy of all the advice given by these gratis (Latin again!) services.

P.S. I once did freelance work at law firms (U.S.A.) so am familiar w/ the abundance of Latin usage -- even though may not always be able to translate!

Mudlady -

You are correct that TPN means "total parental nutrition" (or similar). I made a mistake lumping the accronym w the other ones. For some reason, I was thinking it was latin, but clearly not..!

Earlier in the thread, we were talking about girls' only schools. I was fortunate enough to go to a single sex school for my whole schoolgirl career (from aged 4-19) and loved it. However, at the time, I took it all for granted (as kids do), and it's only in looking back, that I realise the opportunity that I was offered. Academics were not my strong suit until I worked out to study at univ., so I missed that boat in earlier school; however, I do have a strong set of friends with whom I am still in touch.

Looking back, my school seemed very restrictive in everything, but after I had read its hundred-year history book (during Xmas), I really understood how forward it was with the serious things. Yes, you had to have certain coloured socks and wear a hat and have indoor shoes and outdoor shoes etc. but it was really a great school otherwise. (And I actually quite liked all the rules.)

Here is a link that might be useful: Bedford High School (ages 6-18)