BONWAG

• Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum videtur
  Whatever is said in Latin sounds profound
• Esse quam videri
  The Cook Family Motto: “To be, rather than to seem”
• Aut Pax Aut Belum
  The Gunn Family motto (Robinson side): “Either peace or war”

Credit is due to ‘Latin for All Occasions’, The inspiration (and raw material) which got this list started.

• Fiat justitia, ruat coelum
  Do the right thing even if the heavens fall
• Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus
  Never tickle a sleeping dragon – school motto of Hogwarts – of the Harry Potter books.
• Ad praesens ova cras pullis sunt meliora
  eggs today are better than chickens tomorrow
• Res ipsa ioquitur
  The thing speaks for itself
• a fronte praecipitium a tergo lupi
  a precipice in front, wolves behind
• amantes sunt amentes
  lovers are lunatics
• aut viam inveniam aut faciam
  I will either find a way or make one
• cave quid dicis, quando, et cui
  beware what you say, when, and to whom
• credo quia absurdum est
  I believe it because it is unreasonable
• de minimis non curat praetor
  a praetor does not care about petty matters
• exitus acta probat
  the end justifies the means
• me duce tutus eris
  under my leadership you will be safe
• Vestis virum facit
  Clothes make the man
• Sub sole nihil novi est
  There’s nothing new under the sun
• Volo, non valeo
  I am willing but unable
• Nihil curo de ista tua stulta superstitione
  I’m not interested in your dopey religious cult
• Non sum pisces
  I am not a fish
• Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?
  How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
• Aio, quantitas magna frumentorum est.
  Yes, that is a very large amount of corn.
• Vescere bracis meis.
  Eat my shorts
• Fac ut vivas
  Get a life
• Vacca foeda
  Stupid cow
• Te audire no possum. Musa sapientum fixa est in aure
  I can’t hear you. I have a banana in my ear
• Te precor dulcissime supplex!
  Pretty please with a cherry on top!
• Pistrix! Pistrix!
  Shark! Shark!
• exercitus ingens urum salutavit. obdormivit urus.
  The huge army greeted the buffalo. The buffalo fell asleep.
• non commodus est mihi desilire.
  It is not convenient for me to jump down.
• eheu, ardeo.
  Alas, I am burning.
• euge! murus sum!
  Hooray! I am a wall!
• Imperator concidit ut brassica esset.
  The Emperor fell down in order to be a cabbage.
• tam ingens erat puer ut totam viam obstaret.
  The boy was so huge that he blocked the whole street.
• Non Erravi Perniciose
  I did NOT commit a fatal error!
• Si Fractum non sit, noli id reficere
  If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
• Machina improba! Vel mihi ede potum vel mihi redde nummos meos!
  You infernal machine! Give me a beverage or give me back my money!
• Estne tibi forte magna feles fulva et planissima?
  Do you by any chance happen to own a large, yellowish, very flat cat?
• Perscripto in manubus tabellariorm est
  The check is in the mail
• Canis meus id comedit
  My dog ate it
• Hostes alienigeni me abducxerunt. Qui annus est?
  I was kidnapped by aliens. What year is it?
• Certe, Toto, senito nos in Kansate non iam adesse
  You know, Toto, I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas any more.
• Nil Bastardo Carborundum
  Don’t let the bastards grind you down
• Carpe carpum
  Seize the fish
• Explicit leuctotem; da mihi potum
  Work’s done. Where’s the beer?
• Nucleo predicus dispella conducticus
  Remove foil before microwaving
• Dictum ad tua mater
  Word to your mother
• Minutus cantorum, minutus balorum, minutus carborata descendum pantorum
  A little song, a little dance, a little seltzer down your pants

… and some useful phrases to throw into conversation

• …ab asino lanam
  …wool from an ass
• …absit invidia
  …let ill will be absent
• …ad vitam aut culpam
  …for life or until a misdeed
• …albae gallinae filius
  …son of a white hen
• …amicus humani generis
  …friend of the human race
• …arte perire sua
  …to perish by one’s own creation
• …asinus asinum fricat
  …the ass rubs the ass
• …cetera desunt
  …the rest are missing
• …compos sui
  …master of himself
• …cum grano salis
  …with a grain of salt
• …de omni re scibili et quibusdam aliis
  … of everything one can know and several other things
• …doctus cum libro
  … learned with a book
• dixi
  I have spoken

Here’s a necktie which was produced as a joke by/for us journalists covering the WA Inc Royal Commission back in 1991.

It’s got a lire bird as the emblem. Geddit? I don’t know what the brown stain is, and I’m too afraid to taste it and find out.