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inspired by mav, who declaims we don' need no stinkin' motto - we will NEVER agree on just one (and then repeats his plaint about our disunity in another thread!), herewith is a thread for All the [wordy] Mottoes in the Universe (as we know it).
here are some previous attempts:
All language reflects the prejudices of the society in which it evolved.
-- Casey Miller
Thanks to words, we have been able to rise above the brutes, and thanks to words, we have sunk to the level of the demons.
-- Aldous Huxley
For every man there is something in the vocabulary that would stick to him like a second skin. His enemies have only to find it.
-- Ambrose Bierce
We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the measure of our lives.
-- Toni Morrison
Words are loaded pistols.
-- Jean-Paul Sarte
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We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the measure of our lives.
-- Toni Morrison
Seems to be the only one (aside from inevitable death) that speaks of measurement, yet doesn't conclude from it!
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I don't suppose Honi soit qui mal y pense would be appropriate...? 
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Honi soit qui mal y pense
Definitely! Apart from being very euphonious, I love the sentiment, and use that phrase often, even though I seldom wear garters.
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For mottos: I'm partial to Mason Williams: To be poetic is to bare one's soul
To show all of the holes and patches
Go ahead and step on it
Give it a kick and a Ha-Ha...
It'll make it tough.and Garrison Keillor: Some luck lies in not getting what you thought you wanted but getting what you have, which once you have it you may be smart enough to see is what you would have wanted had you known.shoshannah 
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Some luck lies in not getting what you thought you wanted but getting what you have, which once you have it you may be smart enough to see is what you would have wanted had you known.Sage, undoubtedly, but I confess to preferring my mottoes to be a little more on the pithy side. Working my way through the above put me in mind of a labrynthine 'compliment' from The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, to wit, "That young girl is one of the least benightedly unintelligent life forms it has been my profound lack of pleasure not to be able to avoid meeting." 
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One day riding my bike to save ten cents carfare on my way to classes , I went down a long hill at 40mph past a church that had a glassed in bulletin board for inspirational quotations. Out of the corner of my eye, in a split second I read a motto I have never been able to forget.
Cheating is a confession of inferiority which I do not choose to make.
Alas, I am not sure of the author, but I think it was Booker T. Washington, a noted educator of over a hundred years ago. I have searched the Internet in vain. If anyone knows the author, please let me know.
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enthusiast
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Nice, Max. I prefer the famous phrase "Don't Panic". The next one I like is a bit long winded, so not good for a motto, is "Meanwhile, the poor Babel fish, by effentively removing all barriers to communication between different races and cultures, has caused more and bloodier wars than anything else in the history of creation" from the article on (obviously) Babel fish.
jimthedog
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"All for Words and Words for all"
wow
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Yep, "don't Panic" is a good one. My personal motto would be closer to "Share and Enjoy", but I havw always loved the theological argument using the babelfish to prove the non-existence of God.
"Now it is such a bizarrely improbable coincidence that anything
so mindboggingly useful could have evolved purely by chance that
some thinkers have chosen to see it as the final and clinching
proof of the non-existence of God.
"The argument goes something like this: `I refuse to prove that I
exist,' says God, `for proof denies faith, and without faith I am
nothing.'
"`But,' says Man, `The Babel fish is a dead giveaway, isn't it?
It could not have evolved by chance. It proves you exist, and so
therefore, by your own arguments, you don't. QED.'
"`Oh dear,' says God, `I hadn't thought of that,' and promptly
vanished in a puff of logic.
"`Oh, that was easy,' says Man, and for an encore goes on to
prove that black is white and gets himself killed on the next
zebra crossing.
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"Remember your towel" is my personal favorite. Well anyway, a motto, hmmm... "They spell it Vinci and pronounce it Vinchy; foreigners always spell better than they pronounce." -Mark Twain
-Scott
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That is good. Have you read God's final message to His creatures, from "So Long And Thanks For All The Fish"? "We are sorry for the inconveniance." That's only part of the joke. Every letter except for the is seperated by commentary so you have to work out what it says. It also happens to be the only thing Marvin is happy about!!!!!
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Yes, I have read that. I have read at least a tiny exerpt of each book in the Hitchhiker's series.
-Scott
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I say our motto should be something by either Douglas Adams or Mark Twain. Here's another good one: "Classic" A book that people praise and don't read. -Twain
-Scott
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his plaint about our disunity in another threadNo, not me, guv! One of the main things about this board I cherish is the lack of agreement – it has helped underline for me the extraordinary strength achieved through diversity. Babel save us all from the TRUTH – people down through the ages have taken their particular brand of this madness as a good excuse for a bonfire… So, Max, add me to the queue for auto da fe behind Jackie But I know, tsuwm – that was really just a good excuse to resurrect a bit of Middle English, wasn’t it?! I love all of these quotes - so shall be completely undecided when it comes to determine the TRUTH about which we should consign to history.
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Babel save us all from the TRUTH – people down through the ages have taken their particular brand of this madness as a good excuse for a bonfire…Absolutely, but at least some of such people chose to be burned rather than do the burning. 
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One more Motto suggestion from me - from one of my favorite poets:
When old words die out on the tongue, new melodies break forth from the heart;
and where the old tracks are lost, new country is revealed with its wonders.
-Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941)
(poet, philosopher, author, songwriter, painter, educator, composer, Nobel laureate)
I use it as my 'signature' on regular e-mail... and sometimes get some interesting comments from it's inclusion!
Shoshannah
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Here's my suggestion for a motto:
IMPENETRABILITAS
This is the background for it. (I hope you enjoy meeting up with this again as much as I did):
"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean -- neither more nor less."
"The question is," said Alice, "whether you can make words to mean so many different things."
"The question is," said Humpty Dumpty, "which is to be master -- that's all."
...
"Impenetrability! That's what I say!"
"Would you tell me please," said Alice, "what that means?"
"Now you talk like a reasonable child," said Humpty Dumpty, looking very much pleased. "I meant by 'impenetrability' that we've had enough of that subject, and it would be just as well if you'd mention what you mean to do next, as I suppose you don't mean to stop here all the rest of your life."
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In reply to:
Here's my suggestion for a motto:
IMPENETRABILITAS
This is the background for it. (I hope you enjoy meeting up with this again as much as I did):
"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean -- neither more nor less."
Given the context, perhaps Humpty's definition of "glory" would be equally apt for a motto here.
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How about a bit of a variation on the family motto that appears on our coat of arms...
Family and friends, first, forever and always.
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Okay - I do have another one, brought to mind by BelM's mention of her family coat of arms - the Great Seal of the State of North Carolina has this on it's face:
Esse Quam Videri
I think it's a good motto for everyone!
Shoshannah
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Our coat of arms bears the motto : "Fortes et Fidelis" which has been translated for me by Father O'Leary (Do you remember I mentioned him ... secretary at the Vatican?)
anyway he said it's "Strong and Faithful."
Pretty neat, huh?
wow
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Shoshanna : re Esse Quam Videri -- translate please? Something about truth? I'd rather have our "own" motto, and along that line of thought; and since there are so many Latin scholars hereabouts, perhaps we could translate "we don't need no motto" into Latin and use that ? wow
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wow>re Esse Quam Videri -- translate please? Something about truth?That was a good guess, given my penchant for it, but NO - Esse Quam Videri, which also aptly describes many, if not most, native North Carolinians (can't speak for the many transplants there now) is: TO BE RATHER THAN TO SEEM.I think your suggestion of translating we don't need no motto into Latin is BRILLIANT - can we do it BEFORE the 14th and introduce it to the world, via the board of course, at the same time as Ali unveils her "Happy Anniversary of the Birth of AWADtalk" graphic ??? I'm NOT a Latin scholar by any stretch, but I'll work on it - any others game?Shoshannah
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translating we don't need no motto into Latin is BRILLIANTJust had to see it once more! Mercy!You make me  and that's not common at my age! Thank you for the compliment wow
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How about:
Dictum non indiget?
Literally "A motto (maxim) is not required"
I couldn't think of a Latin equivalent to our use of "stink" in this context. But we do have a real Latin scholar on the board, NicholasW, I think. Maybe ... ?
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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tsuwm suggests stinking = foetidus?
As a direct translation of the word, yes of course, but I was thinking of the meaning behind the use of "stinkin' " in this context.
Latin would have had an adjective which meant something similar emotively, to what we mean, I'm sure, but it wouldn't be obvious.
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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Heaven forfend we should ever be obvious!
wow
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Well - I think we should just leave this one up to NicholasW - whaddayasay?
Hey Nick - any ideas on this one - in Latin: "we don't need no stinkin' motto" and without being tooooo obvious, please!
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After a bit more thinking... (okay, some tell me I should stop with the thinking as it usually just gets me into MORE trouble), but here goes.
I have translated our proposed non-motto into Hebrew and shortened it to now read (obviously transliterated):
BLEE SISMAH MASRICHAH - literally, "without slogan stinking"
Maybe not as recognizable as Latin, but could be interesting, nonetheless, and would certainly be ours and only ours!
Shoshannah
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Dear Shoshanna, I kind of like the idea of the traditional Latin.
It's being a dead language and all can confuse the uninitiated and keep the scholars busy to say nothing of what the psychiatrists would strive to deduce about people who would adopt "No motto" for a motto!
Color me old stick-in-the-mud old fashioned.
{wringing hands, hoping no umbrage taken by our beautiful rose}
wow
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"we don't need no motto"
I think using Latin for the motto (if we have one) is a good idea, but I don't care much for using that as the motto. A motto should be a concise statement that summarizes intent. The Boy Scout motto is "Be Prepared". It's short, and says much. Saying that we don't need a motto as our motto just sounds like we wasted a lot of time trying to come up with something.
I think if we're going to have a motto, it should have to do something with what the board is really about: discussing language, literature and culture. (Maybe that could be translated into Latin.)
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I think if we're going to have a motto, it should have to do something with what the board is really about: discussing language, literature and cultureWhat say they? Let them say. (A poor attempt at a motto, I know, I just like the phrase )
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wow>I kind of like the idea of the traditional Latin
Actually, I do, too. I was just messing around with it which gave me a chance to practice my Hebrew - which is poor at best!
Meanwhile - here's another idea:
MUTTUM NON POSSUMUS
Shoshannah
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I know it's not Latin, but I always liked the motto on the Wimsey family arms: As my whimsy takes me.
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Wiggle around in my family tree a little bit and you get the Kerr family motto: Sero sed serio Late but serious
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In reply to:
Saying that we don't need a motto as our motto just sounds like we wasted a lot of time trying to come up with something.
Making it especially appropriate, I would think.
Obiter dicta forever!
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We don't need non egemus
Can't go along with mottum, apparently it meant word, not motto. Might also be hard to code in the double negative.
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Wimsey family arms: As my whimsy takes me.
A friend of mine has last name Russell. The Russell Family motto is (no kidding) Che sera, sera.
(Humming the song she wanders away ...)
wow
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Philologia, ergo Amicitia
(i'm quite sure i've translated this incorrectly, but what i'm seeking is a phrase to mean "A common pursuit of knowledge makes us friends)
Scribbler, can you help??
~CD
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Oh - just another possibility - from an old old friend back in North Carolina who used to say, upon taking leave of a good friend, See you in the soup!
Don't know HOW it could translate to Latin, though!
Shoshannah
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"Our word is our bond" ?
Nice double meaning there.
wow
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In reply to:
"Our word is our bond" ?
Nice double meaning there.
wow
Okay - that's good. How about:
VERBUM SAT - a word is enough or perhaps
SATIS VERBORUM - enough of words or perhaps
VERBUM ASCENDERE - as in (maybe?) the slang expression Word Up meaning, I think, "you speak the truth"
Shoshannah
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Close but not quite The phrade is similar to "My word is my bond" meaning you promise to do something by giving your word rather than by posting a surety of money or signing a contract. A matter of honor! Bond also means "in a state of slavery" also something "fastened to another," also "cohere. Extrapolating that, the motto would be that we are bound together by our love of words and that words are the bond, or pledge, surety to one another that we will be honorable in our dealings with each other. Complex enough to pose a challenge for any translator yet simple enough to convey the spirit of AWAD. Whew! Any takers? wow
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wow - I did understand the meaning of your suggested motto - I was just making some suggestions of my own - like we need any more mottos to think about for this board! Anyway - are we ready to make a decision? Should we just vote? How about if everyone takes another look at the possibilities - at least all those offered on this thread - and then just POST (on this thread, please) the one you prefer - and in truly democratic fashion, the one with the most posts wins??  Shoshannah
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but... this ain't a democracy! in fact, this is the closest thing to a *working anarchy that I've yet to come across. or maybe 'chaos theory come to pass' would be a better analogy. all worship the sacred chao. up the logomachists!
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Well then, MR. tsuwm, how about coming up with the Latin translation of chaos theory come to pass and we can use THAT as our motto! Sounds perfect to me!!!   Shoshannah
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now that i've seen it actually in print (so to speak), I'm kinda partial to UP THE LOGOMACHISTS! myself.
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How about a variation on Plato's motto for his Academy:
Let only linguaphiles enter here
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I'm getting around to the view that a motto for AWAD is like the Old China Marines' philosophy : "If the Corps wanted you to have a wife, it would have issued you one."
wow
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But who wants to be in the Marines? And remember how proud the Marines are of their motto!
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