History Main / PretentiousLatinMotto

** In a darker vein, the inscription over the entrance at Sunnydale High School reads "Formatia trans sicere educatorum"("Enter all ye who seek knowledge"), which Angelus used as an invitation(vampires in the Buffyverse can only enter a building once invited). Turns out to be a bit of FridgeBrilliance, as Mayor Wilkins intended Sunnydale to be a haven for vampires, so naturally he would give the school a motto that made it easy for vampires to invade.
* On the set of [[TheColbertReport The Colbert Report]], the inscription above the fireplace reads "Videri Quam Esse". Translation: "to seem to be rather than to be". It's a play on [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esse_quam_videri "Esse quam videri"]], which is the real-life motto of quite a few different US and UK schools.

* ''{{Bungie}}'' is fond of those, with tongue firmly in cheek. Their official motto is ''Non facete nobis calcitrare vestrum perinaeum''. "Don't make us kick your asses."

*** Well given the general populus of the city, he probably thinks it's remarkably accurate. No Honest Folk has even been harmed on an Ahnk Morpork street.

* ''Comicbook/{{X-Men}}'': Xavier Institute - ''Mutantis Mutandum'' (The [[HoldingOutForAHero necessary]] change)

* LatinPronunciationGuide

** You mean Lake Wobegon's motto ''isn't'' in Norwegian?
*** The German Catholics of Our Lady of Perpetual Responsibility probably wouldn't have it in Norwegian, and the Norwegians wouldn't care.

** Bungie should probably get a new translator. Throughout six years of Latin class this troper has never seen "non" in a negative imperative. It should be "Nolite facere nobis calcitrare vestrum perinaeum."

**** I live in Michigan. Presumably it's meant to signify whichever peninsula you're in at the moment, but it's probably best quoted in the U.P. (I live in the L.P. by the way).

* Behold the [[http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/9636/tituloblog.jpg header image]] of a Brazilian right-wing pundit's site. The eagle makes it [[SoBadItsGood just perfect]]. No, ThisTroper won't grace the nutcase with a link or even identification.
** Then how about a translation?
*** Roughly, "But no evil can overcome wisdom." or "However, no malice can defeat reason." The bible, Wisdom 7:30
* Stephen Colbert's[[StephenColbert]] motto is "Videri quam Esse", or "To seem rather than to be". Quite ironic really...
** Actually, very appropriate given his style (satire).

* The nation of [[CanadaEh Canada]] has "A Mari Usque Ad Mare,"[[hottip:Lat.:"From Sea to Sea".]] which is not only pretentious for being Latin but doubly so for being taken from the King James Bible, the full line being "Et dominabitur a mari usque ad mare, et a flumine usque ad terminos terrae."[[hottip:Lat.:"He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth".]] Said quote is also where the full title of the country, the ''Dominion'' of Canada, is from.
** The... Latin motto is taken from a particular English translation of the bible? ¿Que?
*** Probably meant the Vulgate, but who knows?

* ''CatsDontDance'': The motto of Mammoth Studios is ''Optimum Est Maximum''. Bigger is better.
** I believe that means Biggest is Best.

* ''[[TheWorldOfDarkness Vampire: The Masquerade]]'' had the regal, aristocratic Ventrue: ''Regere sanguine, regere in veritatem est.''" ("To rule through blood is to truly rule".)

* ''VForVendetta'', both book and movie: "Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus Vici", "By the power of truth I, while living, have conquered the universe". From ''{{Faust}}'', as told immediately afterwards, and [[AlliterativeAppeal quite an appropriate motto for V.]]

* Subverted with Cornell University. While the rest of its Ivy League counterparts have have [[PretentiousLatinMotto Pretentious Latin Mottos]], it's English motto is ''I would found an institution where any person can find instruction in any study'', presumably Ezra Cornell's answer to the question "what would you do if you had a million dollars".

** And for their {{Expy}}s in ''{{Marvel 1602}}'', Master Carlos Javier's Institute takes the mottoe "''Omnia mutantur, et nos mutamos con illis''" (All things change, and we change with them).

* [[spoiler: Carmine Falcone's]] grave in ''Batman: Dark Victory'' bears the epitaph "Veni Vidi Vici," or "I came, I saw, I conquered" ([[CanonImmigrant Chief O'Hara]] pronounces it "Vinny Veedee Vicky").

*** Hawaii's motto is in Hawaiian. It's kind of long (though not as long as Iowa's).

**Played straight with the individual states, though.

** In ''{{Thud!}}'' someone asks Vimes "Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?" (translated as "Who watches the watchmen?", as above). Vimes' answer? "Me."

** In ''{{Thud!}}'' someone asks Vimes "Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?" ("Who watches the watchmen?", as above). Vimes' answer? "Me."