Smart People Know Latin

Lydia: I know Archaic Latin.
Allison: You know Archaic Latin?
Lydia: I got bored with Classical Latin.
Allison: Just how smart are you?!

— Teen Wolf, "Frenemy"

A perfect way to introduce that a character is not only smart, but refined, well- (formally) educated, and upper-class, even aristocratic: have them be able to recite a Latin quotation eloquently or read the moribund language of the Romans as if it were their native tongue.

Supposedly, this demonstrates that the character is of magnified intelligence, or at least education, because Smart People Know Latin. A reason for this is that Latin's remaining uses, as it’s a "dead language" (i.e., a language no longer used in everyday conversation) include an extended proportion of "intellectual" and "scholarly" applications, including but not limited to etymology, science, medicine, legal jargon, the arts, deciphering ancient texts, mere quotation, et cetera. This inclination for intellectuals to comprehend Latin combines frequently with Gratuitous Greek, especially in science. While other modern languages may also have utility in these areas, their primary use - as living common languages for plebeians - obscures out alternative uses, so they are not considered as "scholarly."

This has a fundamental basis on Truth in Television, as back during the Renaissance when classical Greek and Roman texts were rediscovered by Europeans, the ability to translate the original literature was considered a necessity. Even earlier during the Medieval Era, most literate Europeans were members of the clergy or nobles who were educated via clerical universities that preserved Latin as the legitimate ecclesiastical language, and ergo, had Latin as a Lingua Franca that neglects nationality. Given the above, Latin became the primary language of scholarship, and literature on science, the arts and such subjects of intellectual material were often inscribed in Latin. This is one of the reasons why science's opted language for terminologies (especially in taxonomy) is Latin (combined with Gratuitous Greek). The norm only received reduction during the 19th century, when more and more scientists began to use their own languages. But, for instance, the English vocabulary still uses many Latin and Greek words, some imported via French.

Further, knowledge of Latin (and to a lesser extent, Greek) was a sign of an elevated education as supplied by the British school system. Like the Medieval nobility, only the wealthy could acquire an education that included instruction in Latin, thus amplifying the modern connotation of class, education, how Smart People Know Latin and how Smart People Speak the Queen's English. Also, education in Latin in the present has been connected to better linguistic ability and examination scores (probably due to recognizing the etymologies behind the jargon), and it is infrequent for inept students to take Latin except when it's a requirement. And you know how many superior schools and universities have Pretentious Latin Mottoes.

The names of several secondary types of school, such as Lyceum and Gymnasium, is evidence of the Classical influence in the education. Moreover, "grammar schools" were schools which, when created, taught the Latin and Ancient Greek grammar.

In modern works, knowledge of Latin will often be a part of Instant Cultured if a character is subject to Screw Learning, I Have Phlebotinum!. Expect a newly intelligent character to suddenly be able to read Latin fluently, or at least ramble off the Latin roots of a word.

Of course, use of Dog Latin, or worse, Pig Latin, betrays a classical sort of Delusions of Eloquence. Compare Gratuitous Latin for situations where snippets of Latin (correct or otherwise) are tossed in to convey an aura of wisdom or importance, and Latin Is Magic for when the language is associated with magical workings. Frequently overlaps with Proverbial Wisdom, Speaks in Shout-Outs, and Hurricane of Aphorisms, since such characters are usually prone to quoting Latin proverbs and aphorisms.

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Examples:

Anime and Manga

• Monster: Johan Liebert knows Latin, French, German, English, and Czech. This actually becomes a plot point, as he reads books in Latin for Hans Georg Schuwald, a wealthy man who he is trying to get close to.

Comic Books

• Asterix, which takes place around 50 BC when Latin was a living language, always show the Romans speaking the same language as the Gauls. Except that whenever a group of Roman legionnaires are speaking, then one of them will likely be quoting something in Latin. Often to the frustration of the other legionnaires since it usually happen in a situation too serious for that — for example while running from the invincible Gauls. One of the pirates whose ship the Gauls wreck Once per Episode also has a tendency to offer pithy quotes in Latin when they're all floating on a raft.
• The Avengers: In one issue, Hank McCoy (the Beast) converses with a Roman Catholic nun in Latin.

Comic Strips

• In a Dilbert comic strip, Wally has a Dream Sequence in which he becomes smarter and exclaims "Suddenly I can speak Latin!"
• Parodied in a FoxTrot strip in which Jason says that his new year's resolution is to speak entirely in Latin. He recites common-knowledge Latin phrases such as "a priori", "quid pro quo", etc. just to annoy his sister, Paige.

Fan Works

• The Dear Sweetie Belle Continuity uses Latin as the ancient language of the unicorns, and Professor Crescendo, and his family and students, are very much immersed in it.
• Life Ore Death: Defied, as when people originally believe Renka's hero name to be "Ferrous," after the Latin word for iron, she counters that she's still learning English and wouldn't know Latin. The name is after the Ferris Wheel, just because she likes it.

Films — Live-Action

• In Braveheart, young Wallace is asked about the benediction. When he tells his uncle he doesn't speak Latin, the response is "That's something we shall have to remedy." It's one of many lessons in manhood he learns, and of course, this later becomes a Chekhov's Skill.
• Meeks is supposed to be the Brain of the group in Dead Poets Society because he "aced Latin", according to Charlie.
• In Event Horizon, the use of Latin by the captain of that ship on its Apocalyptic Log seems to be there partly to suggest what an educated guy he is, although it's the mistranslation of one of the quotes by the protagonists that turns out to be relevant to the plot.
• The daughter in The Haunted Mansion (2003), who is supposed to be the smartest character, takes a course on Latin.
• Natasha (Black Widow) from Iron Man 2 speaks multiple languages including Latin, which impresses Tony. Pepper corrects him in saying that no one 'speaks' Latin, as it's a dead language (which isn't true, because all that makes it a "dead" language is that people don't have it as a first language, and thus it doesn't change).
• In Jasminum, Zdrówko is not posh, but he turns out to read Latin better than his bookish superior, Kleofas, who is nonplussed.
• In Jungle Cruise, one of the hints that Frank is a bit more than a shady riverboat captain (specifically, an immortal conquistador and cartographer) is when he corrects McGregor's Latin.
• In Richie Rich, Cadbury is seen to be skilled in reading Latin. Richie himself apparently knows enough Latin to send him a secret message in a greeting card:
  Policeman: [trying to read the card] What's this?
  Richie: Latin.
  Policeman: Latino? Thought he was English!
• In Tombstone, Doc and Ringo have a whole conversation of death threats by hurling aphorisms in Latin at each other.
• In Withnail and I, Withnail and Monty engage in some prep-school Latin badinage at the less highly educated I's expense.
• Wonder Woman (2017): Diana tests Sameer's knowledge of languages and they get through four before Diana trips him up with ancient Greek. Fitting as Diana's entire knowledge of the world at that point is academic while Sameer is a bit more worldly.

Literature

• In 1066 and All That, the victory of the Romans over the Britons is attributed to their superior classical education, including knowing the correct pronunciation of "Veni, Vidi, Vici". The Lollards' insistence on reading the Bible in an English translation rather than in Latin is taken as a sign of stupidity as well as heresy.
• The Aubrey-Maturin series invokes this in universe. Stephen Maturin is a physician that speaks Latin (along with a half a dozen other languages) and he will often use Latin around patients both to keep them from knowing what he is saying (when he is talking to another physician or an assistant who also speaks Latin) and because patients are reassured by the fact that their doctor is learned enough to speak Latin. The crews of the ships he serves on often brag that their ship has a real physician that speaks Latin and Greek. Note that these were the times when surgeons and physicians were two radically different occupations, surgeons being little more than half-literate artisans who could let the blood, put on the leeches, extract the tooth or perform a field amputation. Having a real trained doctor on the ship (which was required to have a surgeon, not a physician) was a rare luck indeed.
• Inverted in the Belisarius Series, which is set in the Eastern Roman Empire of the 6th century, where Latin is the language of slack-jawed yokels from the backwards and barbarian West and the language of smart people is Classical Greek (as opposed to the commonly spoken koine Greek). One minor character is mocked for his Latin accent, which, to the listeners, makes him sound like a hick.
• Older Than Print: In The Canterbury Tales, the Pardoner mixes "a wordes fewe" in Latin into his sermons to make them more impressive.
• In the Commandant Martin Servaz series by Bernard Minier, the titular protagonist frequently quotes Latin aphorisms.
• Vlad Tepes and Elizabeth Bathory are apparently writing to each other in Latin in Count and Countess.
• In The Divine Comedy, Thomas Aquinas renders a complex theological doctrine in Latin while making a point about how that abstract knowledge relates to practical wisdom.
• In The Dresden Files, Latin is the formal language of the White Council and so any wizard who's a member is of course expected to know it. (Harry's own notably poor grasp of the language — "Stupid Latin correspondence course" — has come up to bite him here before.) Justified in that the Council as an organization really does go back that far. Also, they need a lingua franca because they have members from all over the world.
• In Four Faultless Felons, one of the signs that a burglar may be more than he seems is that he can translate the motto "Omnia Vincit Amor" on the jewellery he is stealing.
• In The Gargoyle, the Eccentric Artist Marianne Engel is really fond of Latin (she even has a penchant for speaking to herself in Latin). She also becomes something of a wise mentor to the protagonist, teaching him about The Power of Love.
• In A Griffin in Her Desk by Zee Ann Poerio, the teacher Mrs. Moneta is really fond of quoting Latin.
• In Have Space Suit – Will Travel, Kip learns Latin because his father thinks it will improve his education, especially his Spanish. Which comes in handy when he meets a time-travelling Roman legionnaire from late-Imperial Iberia who speaks a rough-and-ready mixture of the two.
• The Hunger Games: Mockingjay implies that Plutarch Heavensbee speaks at least some Latin.
• In the novel It Always Gets Worse, the Ragtag Bunch of Misfits assumes their leader speaks Latin because he's smart, since they don't know his backstory. He actually speaks it because his extremely Catholic mother shoved it down his throat and put him through Catholic school from preschool to high school. His father is also a priest who had an affair with one of his congregations and drove it in further. He actively hates this trope and avoids Latin unless it's necessary to the plot, which of course it is because, well, see the title.
• In Lonesome Dove, Gus McCrae and a passing cattle boss exchange Latin maxims, though later both admit that they're just remembered fragments from their school days.
• Lord Peter Wimsey: Lord Peter and Harriet Vane trade all sorts of learned quotations, but Latin is part of the deal. The last time he proposes marriage to her (in Gaudy Night), he does so in Latin while wearing his cap and gown (he took a First at Balliol). She accepts in the same language: "Placet."^Lat. "It pleases." One of his frequent terms of endearment for her is "domina" (a feminine form of "dominus" "master") meaning "lady" or "mistress".
• In the Magicae Mathematica series by Jim West, the protagonist Alex was taught Latin by her mother, and they often spoke it in front of their husband/father just to tease him. It came in handy later when Alex was transported to a world where Latin is the language of magic.
• In The Man Who Laughs, the vagabond philosopher Ursus is well-versed in Latin and often uses Latin phrases in everyday speech.
• Shadowhunters in The Mortal Instruments are quite into this, especially when trying to assert intellectual superiority over mundanes.
  Simon: "Basia coquum". Or whatever their motto is.
  Alec: It's "Descensus Averno facilis est." "The descent into hell is easy." You just said "Kiss the cook".
  Simon: Dammit, I knew Jace was screwing with me.
• The New Humans: Lawrence is apparently conversant in Latin. He is also an upper-class, Cambridge-educated Australian who is frequently noted as speaking and acting in such a British way as to be nearly indistinguishable from the genuine article.
• In Puckoon, set in partition-era Ireland, the Catholic Father Rudden laments the lack of Latin education amongst his flock. On one occasion, we are told, he recited a dirty joke that he had translated into Latin, eliciting a solemn "Amen" from his congregation.
• George Eliot complains of this in Silly Novels by Lady Novelists:
  In "Laura Gay," another novel of the same school, the heroine seems less at home in Greek and Hebrew, but she makes up for the deficiency by a quite playful familiarity with the Latin classics — with the "dear old Virgil," "the graceful Horace, the humane Cicero, and the pleasant Livy;" indeed, it is such a matter of course with her to quote Latin... It is as little the custom of well-bred men as of well-bred women to quote Latin in mixed parties; they can contain their familiarity with "the humane Cicero" without allowing it to boil over in ordinary conversation, and even references to "the pleasant Livy" are not absolutely irrepressible.
• In A Single Thread by Tracy Chevalier, the Latin teacher Dorothy Jordan is also fond of using Latin in everyday conversations.
• The Sword of Saint Ferdinand: Agatín, a learned hermit, medic and astrologist, quotes Horace and Salustius effortlessly, in contrast to Fortún Paja, a court jester and soldier who cannot tell the difference between Latin and Greek.
• In Thank You for Flying Air Zoe by Erik Atwell, one of the characters, Lauren (Lo), studied Latin in college and has a penchant for quoting Latin phrases which annoys her friends.
• Victoria: Both John Rumford and Bill Kraft quote Roman statesmen and scholars in Latin, often at each other, though they are both far fonder of German.
• Given the number of Oxbridge sorts and Anglican and Roman Catholic clergymen in the Village Tales novels, there is a critical, er, mass of Clever Characters who do in fact Know Latin. Including Farm Boy and Farm Girl students at the Free School, parish choristers, and the country-boy headstone carver at the local undertakers' ("I'm all right with Church Latin as I've seen a hundred times").
• Phase (Ayla Goodkind) of the Whateley Universe reads Latin, ancient Greek, and Middle English, all part of his classism and upper-upper-class upbringing in private schools. He also speaks several modern languages and is a snob about it.
• In Wolf Sea by Robert Low, the wise monk Brother John is really fond of quoting Latin phrases.
• Despite otherwise being an Evil Overlord manipulating events from the shadows, Coil from Worm averts this by not knowing Latin when it comes up in Prey 14.9. This is lampshaded by the person talking, since she's using it to pass a message along to a powerful enemy of Coil's. Had he known it, he'd have realized Skitter was in danger and that a very dangerous piece of information was just given to the person who least needed to know it.

Live-Action TV

• Fred and Wesley in Angel. Angel himself is a bit of an inversion; he does have his smart areas, but he isn't really upper class. He probably learned some as a youth, and the rest from experience with the old books.
• Sheldon and Wolowitz try to use this against each other in The Big Bang Theory. Also, in the episode in which Leonard meets Sheldon for the first time, Sheldon says "Cathedra mea, regula mea", which (according to Sheldon) is Latin for "My chair, my rules".
• Temperance Brennan and Zack Addy from Bones. When the trio visit a very upscale private school, Catholic Booth doesn't get a word of its Pretentious Latin Motto Omnia Mea Mecum Porto, snarking that it must mean, "Normal People Stay Out". Bones and Zack translate it without pause ("I carry with me all my things") and in unison.
• Gil Grissom does this a time or two in CSI — his insect names are the most common, but there are other instances.
• CSI: NY: Mac, Sheldon and Stella all translate the Latin phrases serial killer Shane Casey leaves as clues without hesitation. Mac is a college graduate, Sheldon is a prodigy who graduated med school in his early 20's, and Stella is also fluent in Greek.
• Cupid: A lovelorn professor and Trevor Hale (who believes he is and/or may actually be Cupid) are discussing picking up women in a bar.
  Jennings: Ille qui haesitat...^Lat. "He who hesitates..."
  Trevor: ...dormit in vacuo lecto.^Lat. "Sleeps in an empty bed."
• The Flash (2014): Hartley Rathaway, a.k.a. the Pied Piper, is shown often conversing with Harrison Wells/Eobard Thawne in Latin. In Season 2, after he undergoes a Heel–Face Turn off-screen due to Barry interfering in the past, he continues to do so, and Caitlin has to remind him that since Thawne was erased from existence nobody spoke Latin there anymore.
• Methos from Highlander. Justified, since he was alive back then and lived in the Roman Empire for a while.
• Horatio Hornblower: When Horatio comes aboard the Justinian, Captain Keene asks him about his education. Horatio says he was a Grecian at school, meaning that he studied both Latin and Greek, and Horatio actually looks slightly excited for the first time in the series. Keene promptly tells him that in the Navy, there is no use for absolute ablatives and similar stuff. However, there is, apparently. Keene uses it as a means of mocking his middies with style. He wonders what terrae incognitiae (unknown lands) they might have discovered during their navigational exercise. Because Horatio is also Good with Numbers, he's the only one who got the exercise right.
• Eric Sweet from House of Anubis is versed in Latin and routinely spouts Latin phrases, presumably to demonstrate how smart he is.
• In the Jonathan Creek episode "The Grinning Man", Jonathan knows Latin, and the murderer speaks it so well that he doodles in it. Joey, presented as very intelligent herself, does not and finds the whole thing very pretentious.
• Dr. Huang, The Shrink/The Smart Guy/Mr. Exposition of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, effortlessly steps in to correct a mistranslated Latin word in the episode "Silence".
• Midsomer Murders: One academic in "The Glitch" insists on saying nearly everything twice, first in Latin, then in English.
• It's a Running Gag in QI to make fun of Stephen Fry's perceived posh upbringing. On one occasion, Bill Bailey made a joke about him knowing the Lord's Prayer in Latin, to which Stephen responded by quoting the first few lines of such at high speed. Helps that the Lord's Prayer is probably the most widely known Latin text in the world, given the number of people who recite it by rote every single day, and the first two words "Pater noster" are a common alternative name for the prayer.
• One episode of Sliders has the protagonists end up in a world where being smart and well-educated is cool (they pass a punk on the street with a boombox blasting classical music and see a rap video about how cool it is to hang out at the library). Sports are all a mix of physical endurance and knowledge (kinda lends a whole new meaning to the term "mathlete"). Quinn in this world is a well-known athlete and a slider (although, Quinn-prime finds out that this Quinn never discovered sliding and was just faking). He's also involved with some unsavory types. The episode's Big Bad is a mobster who constantly likes to quote phrases in Latin and gets annoyed when the others have no idea what he said. Of course, it's entirely possible that many people know at least some Latin in this world, given the obsession with intelligence. At the end of the episode, right before sliding, Quinn departs with a Latin quip: Via Corinas Inundum. It's actually amazingly bad Latin.
• In the Smallville episode "Hex", Chloe is shown to speak Latin, but Lois and Clark can't.
• Apparently, Latin is part of the curriculum at Starfleet Academy, as one episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation reveals that Wesley Crusher is studying it, and in another episode, Counselor Troi suggests that Picard, who's been turned into a child in a transporter accident, can go there to "brush up on [his] Latin." Picard and Wesley have learned Latin in the 24th century for much the same reason that 20th-century people do: to read works of classical philosophy in the original language, and as a mental exercise. The only difference is that instead of being removed from the sources by 20 centuries, they are removed by 24 centuries. Star Trek does this with a lot of human culture, i.e., why Picard is a fan of the works of William Shakespeare: it's hard to predict if popular and even critically acclaimed literature and films from the 20th century will age well three hundred years from now, but Shakespeare and Latin have already held up for many centuries, so they're probably not a passing fad. Besides, a great deal of scientific terms have at least Latin roots, so decent grounding in Latin (and some basic knowledge of Greek) is enough to make deciphering Star Trek's Technobabble much easier.
• Most of the hunters in Supernatural are able to recite Latin incantations, and many hunters like Bobby Singer can read obscure Latin texts as well as other ancient languages.
• As the title quote shows, in Teen Wolf, Lydia can read Archaic Latin (she got bored with Classical Latin).
• President Bartlet of The West Wing, who is a giant nerd and has a Nobel Prize in economics, understands Latin enough that he can spontaneously compose prayers in it. Granted, he is also a Catholic (by choice, not birth), studied at Notre Dame, and wanted to be a priest until he met his wife. "Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc" delves into this further with regards to how his smarty-pants image plays out when it comes to campaigning for federal office:
  Bartlet: [Our campaign] did not lose Texas because of the hat joke. Do you know when we lost Texas?
  C.J.: When you learned to speak Latin?
  Bartlet: Go figure.
• A category title from Win Ben Stein's Money: "I speak Latin, ergo I am annoying."
• Yes, Minister: Sir Humphrey Appleby and Bernard Woolley both know Latin, but Hacker does not. Sir Humphrey in particular is often fond of flaunting his Oxbridge education in front of his LSE-educated boss with Latin — here is an example.

Theatre

• 1776 has Edmund Rutledge showing off his aristocratic refinement by (sarcastically) referring to Delaware's bickering delegation as tria juncta in uno. Col. MacIan mistakes it for French.
• In Anne of the Thousand Days, Wolsey tells Anne that there is writing on her necklace, though she may not see it yet:
  Wolsey: The writing is a quotation from a poem. It says: "Noli me tangere, for Caesar's I am." You have studied Latin?
  Anne: Yes.
  Wolsey: "Touch me not," the translation might go, "I belong to the king."
• Parodied in Erasmus Montanus, a satirical play about academic snobbery. The titular character's birth name is Rasmus Berg, but after studying in Copenhagen, he starts flaunting his new "knowledge" (such as his famous Insane Troll Logic "deductions"). This includes using gratuitous Latin in his speech and insisting that people refer to him by his Latinised name Erasmus Montanus.
• Famously parodied in The Imaginary Invalid: all the doctors are very good at sneaking Canis Latinicus into every other sentence, but they're all complete morons or conmen.
• Parodied in Love's Labour's Lost when a group of foolish "pedants" get together and argue over usage of Latin grammar. None of them are right.
• In A Man for All Seasons, the king tests how smart Thomas' daughter is by asking her to talk in Latin.
• Tranio in The Taming of the Shrew:
  "If love have touched you, nought remains but so,
  Redime te captum quam queas minimo."^Translation "Redeem yourself from captivity as cheaply as possible", a quotation from Terence.

Video Games

• In Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Case 5: Turnabout Substitution, Chief Justice Paul Strings is an extremely wise and cultured judge who loves to quote philosophers and recite Latin proverbs. It's later parodied with his son, Gerald — when Apollo asks him whether he knows Latin, he recites the lyrics to One-Winged Angel as "proof".
• Brigador: One of the info brokers, Cephei Chatfield, signs all his reports with "m.p.C.C.", which stands for "manu propria, Cephei Chatfield", a very antiquated way of saying "From, [...]". Chatfield is a Spacer, a group of technologically advanced humans who spend most of their lives in outer space. To them, "planetdwellers" are comparable to animals and are downright ashamed to even be related to them and the fact they have to land on a planet occasionally to raise their children and fight off muscle atrophy. Using Latin is just one of the ways Spacers flaunt their superiority over the "dirt-eaters".
• In Broken Sword, George reveals that he knows enough Latin to give rough translations of the various Latin sentences that crop up. He blames this knowledge on having studied law.
• The Elder Scrolls has an in-universe equivalent to Latin with Aldmeris, the Classical Tongue of the ancient Aldmer, ancestors to the modern races of Mer (Elves). In the spirit of this trope, intelligent characters throughout the series are frequently able to read and translate Aldmeris. In several instances, this is a quest point where Aldmeris is used as a key for translating "dead" languages.
• In Fallout: New Vegas, your player can use Latin phrases in certain trees provided their Intelligence is 8 out of 10 or higher. The lower ranks (composed of teens and newly conquered tribals) of Caesar's Legion seem only to know "vale" and "ave", while a centurion POW you meet seems to be fluent. Companion Arcade Gannon is also very fluent in Latin (he has an Intelligence of 10) and dislikes its connection to the Caesar's Legion in the eyes of the current time.
• Marathon: Invoked by the A.I.s, who will often start using Latin when they're posturing. Tycho taunts Durandal in Latin at several points, and Durandal is fond of using Latin when acting smug and superior. Presumably, as A.I.s, they would know any language known to mankind, but they deliberately use Latin due to this trope.
• Daniil Dankovski from Pathologic frequently uses Latin in his speech and even more in his diary. Justified, as he is a Bachelor of Medicine.

Webcomics

• Peter demonstrates his intelligence in Bad Moon Rising by translating the Ominous Latin spray painted on the gates of the abandoned Sokolov Academy. He further demonstrates his intelligence by knowing that the quote should have been written in Italian, and that the quote itself is mangled.

Web Videos

• The Autobiography of Jane Eyre: Adele Rochester, precocious Child Prodigy frequents intermediate Latin courses, among other stuff like applied physics boot camp, advanced marine zoology, fencing, ballet, or opera, and she sometimes uses Latin on her twitter.

Western Animation

• In Dexter's Laboratory, Dexter is at one point shown with a Latin textbook, for a nice combination of this and Nerds Love Tough Schoolwork.
• Batman and Green Arrow exchange Latin proverbs in Justice League to demonstrate their intelligent rivalry.
• Ready Jet Go!: Jet, the alien Child Prodigy, knows at least some Latin; his catchphrase is "excelsior", which he acknowledges as being Latin for "onward and upward".
• In the Regular Show episode "More Smarter", Mordecai and Rigby overdose on a smart drink, and one of the side effects is that they can only speak in Latin.
• The Simpsons:
  • In the "Treehouse of Horror" parody of A Nightmare on Elm Street, nerd and TV Genius Martin is seen Asleep in Class dreaming about conjugating Latin verbs.
  • To cover going on a road trip, Bart tells his family that he's going to the National Grammar Rodeo.
    Lisa: I'm the best student in school, how come I never heard about this competition?
    Bart: Maybe because you are, as we say in Latin, a "dorkus malorkus."
    Lisa: That's not Latin. Mom, Bart's faking it.
    Marge: Lisa, you've had your glory. Now it's Bart's turn.
• The Venture Brothers:
  • In "Faking Miracles", Pete and Billy demonstrate nanomachines to Rusty by activating dormant portions of the brain to increase intelligence. Unbeknownst to them, the nanotech is affecting Dean, causing him to speak Latin (though Billy states it's Babylonian), making Brock think that Dean has become possessed.
  • "All This and Gargantua 2" shows that Billy (Brilliant, but Lazy super-genius) knows more Latin than Dr. Venture (who's probably not half as smart as he likes to think he is), since Rusty is only pretending to understand the Gratuitous Latin names of the rooms on the space station, but Billy actually does. Rusty ends up angrily telling Billy in Latin that he can go kiss Rusty's... knee. Billy then translates it back at him sarcastically. Incidentally, Billy points out in the same conversation that he's a lot more entitled to the title of "doctor" than Rusty is.

Real Life

• Somewhat inverted in Ancient Rome: The smart people knew Classical Latin (the dialect spoken by upperclass Romans) and many patricians learned Greek.
  • Even back then there was a distinction between flowery high Latin used mainly for formal functions and more colloquial dialects of vulgar Latin that eventually separated into the Romance languages after the fall of the Empire.
• Until early 19th century, educated people all around the Western world could communicate with each other in writing via Latin, even if they could not actually speak each other's languages. These days, educated people around the world just learn English.
  • Of course, most educated people in 18th century Europe also spoke French—even though, in some cases, they did not speak their supposed native languages very well.
• A version of this appears throughout the history of East Asia. Intellectuals in China, Korea, Vietnam, and Japan all knew how to read and write classical Chinese and were educated in Chinese classics. So, even when they did not actually speak one another's languages, they could still communicate intelligibly in writing.
• Vatican City, home of the Catholic Church, has no official language, yet theological writings are first written in Latin before other translations. Also, one can still find a Mass where most of the liturgy is still spoken completely in Latin.
• There are countries where Latin and ancient Greek are still taught in school. In the past, the classical stream (where Latin and Ancient Greek were taught) was where the best pupils went and, moreover, was the only way to go to college before the study of modern languages and literature, which were thought to be lesser in status and intellectual level.
• The non-english nomenclature of anatomy, the "Terminologia Anatomica" is in latin (and is taught at medical universities in non-english speaking countries). It can be found here. Medicine itself is filled with Latin terminology, and generally, the language of medicine in non-english speaking countries is still latin.
• In seminary (studying to be a priest), learning Koine Greek or Hebrew is usually compulsory, so that one can read The Bible in its original languages. Many will end up learning Latin as well, to be able to read the various theologians in the original.
• Mensa, the high IQ society, has a Latin name. "Mensa" means "table" in latin, signifying the coming together of equals.
• A bumper sticker coined by Henry Beard (Harvard graduate and the founder of the National Lampoon) reads, "si hoc adfixum legere potes, et liberaliter educatus et nimis propinquus ades" (If you can read this sticker, you are both very well educated and much too close).
• In India, the equivalent of Latin is its ancient sister language Sanskrit. All Hindu rites and prayers are recited in Sanskrit, thereby only someone trained as a priest or someone who has studied the language is capable of understanding the phrases chanted. Members of the erstwhile Brahmin caste who historically became priests, academics and teachers are taught Sanskrit either in private schools that are academically gated to only accept them, Brahmin only seminaries or by private tutors. Strict moms in Brahmin families living abroad often force feed their already overachieving kids this language too, thereby further cementing this trope.

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