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54 votes

Feminine case 3rd-person version of “Veni, vidi, vici”

"Veni vidi vici" means "I came, I saw, I conquered." "Venit vidit vicit" means "He/she/it came, he/she/it saw, he/she/it conquered." It doesn't make any ...
Nickimite's user avatar
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36 votes
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"Oh no!" in Latin

I think the word you want is ēheu, which L&S define as "an interjection of pain or grief". It's often translated as "alas", mostly because it appears in epic poetry where a grandiose and formal ...
Draconis's user avatar
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28 votes

"Oh no!" in Latin

Seneca the Younger gave the following irreverent account of Claudius' last words: Ultima vox eius haec inter homines audita est, cum maiorem sonitum emisisset illa parte qua facilius loquebatur: &...
Vincenzo Oliva's user avatar
28 votes

Are there native tongue-twisters in Latin?

Quintus Ennius loved alliteration and produced a few verses, which he probably did not intend as tongue-twisters, but which might be called that: O Tite tute Tati, tibi tanta, tyranne, tulisti. Mater ...
Sebastian Koppehel's user avatar
27 votes
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Help translating "It's not a bug, it's a feature!"?

Google Translate is unreliable with Latin and you should not take anything it gives seriously. The suggestion non insectum opus est sounds like "an insect is not work". I am not aware of ...
Joonas Ilmavirta's user avatar
25 votes

What is a Latin version of Inshallah?

Si Deus velit would be quite satisfactory, 'if God should wish [it]', but is, I think, neither as usual or as forceful as the more familiar ablative absolute form Deo volente, 'with God willing', ...
Tom Cotton's user avatar
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25 votes

What is bullshit in Latin?

Nugae! Ineptiae sunt aniles! Fabulae, logi, somnia! Gerras loqueris; hariolaris, vaticinaris! Nugae, ineptiae, gerrae are dedicated terms for nonsense, balderdash, trifles, idle speech, silliness, ...
Sebastian Koppehel's user avatar
22 votes
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Translation of a phrase "Catch the moment, ..." to Latin

There is a well-known Latin equivalent in fairly common use : carpe diem (literally, 'seize the day), taken from Horace, Odes 1.11. The full phrase is carpe diem quam minimum credula postero, implying ...
Tom Cotton's user avatar
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21 votes

What would be a "night owl" in Latin?

The verb lucubrare means (OLD definition 1) 'To work by lamplight (i.e. late at night), "burn the midnight oil."' For example, Pliny uses this verb in letter 3.5 to talk about his uncle's work/study ...
cnread's user avatar
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21 votes

Feminine case 3rd-person version of “Veni, vidi, vici”

It's: Vēnit, vīdit, vīcit. whether the subject is masculine, feminine, or neuter. Latin only has grammatical gender agreement between nouns and the adjectives that modify them. Subject-verb ...
Ben Kovitz's user avatar
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20 votes

What is a Latin version of Inshallah?

From Bibliander's translation of the Qur'an, surah 18, ayah 69, Dixit Moyses, Deo uolente, me quilibet sustinentem, nec te in quoquam offendentem semper inuenies. This is not a literal translation....
Dawood ibn Kareem's user avatar
20 votes

What is a Latin version of Inshallah?

For a monotheist, Tom Cotton's answer is best; for a polytheist (like the ancient Romans), it would be in the plural, so something like dis volentibus ("with the gods willing"). Another way ...
cmw's user avatar
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18 votes

What would be a "night owl" in Latin?

Seneca is your man. In Ep 122 he uses the word lychnobius: one who lives by lamplight. I'll quote the passage in full, because it's so great. Pedonem Albinovanum narrantem audieramus (erat autem ...
Joel Derfner's user avatar
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18 votes
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Latinism to say "everyone knows"

There are many constructions that might be appropriate. Basic structures: certum est (with accusative and infinitive) -- it is certain constat inter omnes (with accusative and infinitive) -- it is ...
Kingshorsey's user avatar
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17 votes
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How do I express total surprise or perplexity when asking a question?

One way of expressing surprise is to add the word nam to a question, which seems to add a sense of "... and I really have no idea what the answer is". Lewis and Short (section III of the entry) ...
TKR's user avatar
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17 votes

How does one say "the will to live" in Latin?

Schopenhauer himself rendered his concept "Wille zum Leben" as "voluntas vivendi" in a marginal note to Augustine's Civitas dei.
fdb's user avatar
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17 votes
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Could one consider using Latin as a daily casual language these days?

You seem to be addressing several issues in this question. To start from the bottom line: Latin is already being used right now as a daily casual language. Not even a small reserve about this ...
d_e's user avatar
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17 votes
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What does „fecerunt pedes“ mean in Latin inscriptions?

In afraid you shouldn't have glossed over the numerals so easily. The first inscription does not, in fact, say M. and S. made the/these feet but in fact: M. and S. made 100 feet The foot was used ...
Sebastian Koppehel's user avatar
16 votes

"Et tu, Brute?"

Suetonius, in his work Vita Divi Iuli, reports the last words of Caesar being Greek καὶ σὺ τέκνον; which is the original source of Shakespeare's line, translated into Latin fairly literally: the ...
Wtrmute's user avatar
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16 votes
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Latin for "In war and in peace"

You're probably thinking of domi militiaeque / domi bellique (but also militiae et domi etc. and the archaic domi duellique), literally "at home and on military service" / "at home and in war", as ...
Vincenzo Oliva's user avatar
15 votes

How to say "everything will be good" in Latin?

The verb cadere ('to fall'), when paired with an adverb (or when its subject is paired with an adjective), can mean 'to turn out (in the manner denoted by the adverb/adjective)' – for example: quis ...
cnread's user avatar
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15 votes
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Why *In medias res* and not *In media res*?

You are confusing two words: The noun medium means "center". The adjective medius means "central". In this idiom one goes into "central things". The word res is feminine (the singular nominative and ...
Joonas Ilmavirta's user avatar
15 votes
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What is bullshit in Latin?

I would suggest nugae, -arum as a good equivalent of English "bullshit." The English term has a fairly tame sense. By my lights, it's a term of abuse for something that seems empty, nonsensical, or ...
brianpck's user avatar
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15 votes
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How to say "To serve, not to be served" in Latin?

Welcome to the site! Non ministrari, sed ministrare (VG Mt 20,28) Is a well-attested phrase with that exact meaning. It literally means not to be served but to serve. The context is Jesus in the ...
Rafael's user avatar
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14 votes
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What is "old" in the age of a wine?

I have found three ways of referring to the age of wine, the first of which is the most common and simplest: An adjective such as anniculus, bimus etc. quadrimum Sabina, o Thaliarche, merum diota ...
Penelope's user avatar
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14 votes
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How to translate "Ceteris Paribus"?

ceterus, -a, -um is an adjective meaning "other." In this case, it is used substantively and means "other things" or "all else." par, -is is an adjective meaning "equal." Both words are in the ...
brianpck's user avatar
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14 votes
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How does one say "the will to live" in Latin?

You are indeed right not to trust Google Translate with Latin. I recommend translating "will" with voluntas. I don't know a better word for this purpose. Please check the linked dictionary entry to ...
Joonas Ilmavirta's user avatar
14 votes
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How would I say "I came, I saw, I kicked ass"?

If you want to preserve the V-V-V structure of the original, you could do: Veni, Vidi, Verberavi This translates to "I came, I saw, I beat people."
cmw's user avatar
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14 votes
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"There is" in Latin

The next time you get into that dream, use a plain est. Here is an example from Caesar: Flumen est Arar, quod per fines Haeduorum et Sequanorum in Rhodanum influit… (Commentarii de bello ...
Joonas Ilmavirta's user avatar
14 votes

Could one consider using Latin as a daily casual language these days?

Latin is used regularly within the Vatican and Catholic Church, so depending on what you mean by daily usage I think that fulfills that requirement. There are also a lot of loan words that make their ...
Adam's user avatar
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