Latin Lives! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Ad hoc

Ad hoc means literally 'to do this thing', and it is used today in reference to something that is improvised and done on the spot, or, in the case of committees, charged with carrying out a specific task. Ad hominem (literal meaning: 'relating to a specific person') describes an argument based on emotion rather than reason, attacking the person who put forward the argument rather than the argument itself. Ad lib ('do as you please') means to speak off the cuff, and ad infinitum is 'going on forever'. Come to think of it, some of the committees I've served on seem to fall under the ad infinitum description.

Answer: Alibi

See, I told you Latin is still alive. An alibi, of course, means that you were elsewhere at the time of the crime (yes, literally, it means 'elsewhere'.) Modus operandi, usually shortened to m.o. by the police, describes the particular methods used by a specific felon, an alias (which means 'otherwise') is a name other than your own, and amicus curiae literally translates to 'friend of the court' and is a present-day legal term.

Answer: Ibidem

Ibidem (usually shortened to 'ibid') means 'in the same place', and is used when citing one's reference sources. The first footnote referring to a specific source will give the full information on the source, and subsequent footnotes on references drawn fom the same source will be indicated 'ibid'. Quid pro quo means 'which for what' or, in modern parlance, 'tit for tat'. Ergo means 'therefore' as every math student knows when reaching a logical conclusion in an algebraic equation, and emeritus means, literally, veteran (or worn-out) and that paper may well be marked by a professor emeritus, a retired professor.

Answer: In vitro

In vitro literally means 'in glass', and since little Louise Brown was conceived in a test tube back in the late '70s (she was born in 1978), the world has become very familiar with this term. Fac simile (we've compressed the two words into one) means 'make a similar thing'. Sub rosa, which literally means 'under the rose', means secret(ly). (If you were having a meeting in a room with a rose hanging from the lampshade you knew that everything said in that meeting was not to be repeated outside that room.) And ipso facto means 'by the fact itself', or 'it's as plain as the nose on your face'.

Answer: With great honour

Of course, if you'd tried harder, you could have graduated summa cum laude, which means 'with highest honour'.

Answer: Carpe Diem

Carpe diem means 'pluck the day', although it's more commonly translated as 'seize the day'. (It's a line from Horace's Odes 1, 11.8.) Per diem, as any business traveller will tell you, is the amount of money allotted by one's company for you to spend on food and lodging each day of your trip (if you choose to stay at the Ritz Carlton and your per diem won't cover the full cost, you pay the difference). Every U.S. Marine knows that 'Semper Fidelis' means 'Always Faithful' and the U.S. Coast Guard's motto is 'Semper Paratus', which means 'Always Prepared'.

Answer: Ex libris

Ex libris means 'from the books' and all my books have Ex Libris book plates identifying them as mine. A 'persona non grata' is a person who is not welcome (a phrase I use to describe those people who borrow my books and don't return them!) You don't have to be a philosophy student to know that 'Cogito ergo sum' means "I think, therefore I am." (according to Rene Descartes), and Camera Obscura literally means 'dark chamber', and a camera obscura is a device that used to be used in drawing.

Answer: Nil per os

If it says n.p.o. on your chart, you're on intravenous feeding, because nil per os means 'nothing by mouth'. (Latin os, oris is neuter, and so the forms for the nominative and accusative are identical). Ora pro nobis means 'pray for us', while non per os is ungrammatic Latin and nec plus os is just gibberish.

Answer: Red-handed

Oops! There you were with your hand in the cookie jar just before dinner, and Mom came into the kitchen! She caught you doing something you knew you shouldn't have done. The actual Latin phrase translates as 'in a blazing wrong'. Well, okay, eating cookies before dinner isn't the end of the world, but I bet that after that incident your mom put the cookie jar where you couldn't reach it.

Answer: Exit

Exit means merely 'he/she goes out'. Egress is also Latin, but it means 'going out', and both entrance and enter derive from the Latin 'intrare' meaning 'go in' or 'come in'. Just a quick trivia note on egress: the great showman P.T. Barnum realized he was losing money because people weren't moving fast enough through one of his displays of nature's anomalies (he called them freak shows, but that's so-o-o not politically correct) consequently preventing new customers from getting in. To solve the problem, he put up a sign that read 'To the Egress' on a door.

The sightseers, thinking it meant yet another strange creature for their viewing delight, went through the door and found themselves back on the street!