History Main / CanisLatinicus

* A somewhat controversial youth ministry called [[http://www.recoveringalumni.com Honor Academy]] chose as its motto [[http://www.recoveringalumni.com/2010/03/honor-ring.html "Semper Honorablus,"]] which supposedly means "Always Honorable," but is incorrect.

* The motto of the University of Washington is "Lux sit" (Let there be light), which should be "Fiat lux". To add to the irony, they have a dog for a mascot.
** Incorrect. Both are perfectly good Latin translations of the (originally Hebrew) Bible: "lux sit" from the (older) Vetus Latina, and "fiat lux" ("let light be made") from the (newer) Vulgate.

This corruption of Latin, as the trope name should indicate, is called "dog Latin." (Incidentally, the trope title is in fact real Latin...for "Latin-like dog." No, it doesn't make much sense, unless we take it as some sort of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metonymy metonym,]] but [[ThisTropeNameReferencesItself that's rather the point]]. Plus, it sounds less like a porn actress than ''(Lingua) Latina Canina'', which is how [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_latin "Dog Latin"]] would sound in ''real'' Latin). Possibly the most well-known dog Latin phrase is "hocus pocus", a condensation of ''hoc est corpus meum'' ([[Literature/TheFourGospels "this is my body"]]), which to common churchgoers receiving Mass would signify something mysterious and incomprehensible.

* The idea of elements ending in "-ium" (see Real Life below) was parodied in the alternate ending of Music/Tom Lehrer's "The Elements":

The idea of elements ending in "-ium" (see Real Life below) was parodied in the alternate ending of Music/Tom Lehrer's "The Elements":

In a show rife with magic users or scientific terminology ([[BreadEggsBreadedEggs or magical users of scientific terminology]]), [[LatinIsMagic Latin is the gear of choice]]. It's exotic-sounding, it has a word for almost everything, it contributed a good proportion of the English vocabulary,[[note]]Indirectly anyway, via Norman French[[/note]] and it's fairly well-known. With Latin by your side, you can spout off any string of awesomeness you want, and easily throw in a few less-than-Latin bits.

* ''WesternAnimation/PixieDixieAndMrJinks'': In a Creator/CartoonNetwork interstitial short, "Harassacat", Mr. Jinx gets slapped with a HollywoodRestrainingOrder that keeps him from chasing Pixie and Dixie. After Mr. Jinx finds a loophole and goes back to business as usual, the short ends with him saying "''Me hatesum meesum maximum''! That's legal for ''[[CatchPhrase I hates meeses to pieces!]]''"

* In ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'', as pointed out [[http://youtu.be/IjytC-rIC8U?t=4m8s here]]

This corruption of Latin, as the trope name should indicate, is called "dog Latin." (Incidentally, the trope title is in fact real Latin...for "Latin-like dog." No, it doesn't make much sense, unless we take it as some sort of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metonymy metonym,]] but [[ThisTropeNameReferencesItself that's rather the point]]. Plus, it sounds less like a porn actress than ''(Lingua) Latina Canina'', which is how [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_latin "Dog Latin"]] would sound in ''real'' Latin).

** The Bugs/Wile E. outing "Rabbit's Feat" has Wile E. in pursuit of the common western rabbit. "''Rabbitus Idioticus Delicious''...I believe that's the scientific term for it." (He's probably thinking of the desert cottontail rabbit, or ''Sylvilagus audibonii'' -- but based on his accent, Bugs is probably an eastern cottontail, or ''Sylvilagus floridanus''.)

** The Bugs/Wile E. outing "Rabbit's Feat" has Wile E. in pursuit of the common western rabbit. "''Rabbitus Idioticus Delicious''...I believe that's the scientific term for it."
** And in "WesternAnimation/StopLookAndHasten" Wile E.'s Burmese Tiger Trap catches [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a Burmese Tiger]], ''Surprisibus! Surprisibus!''

* If you want see a real fight, ask what the plural of 'octopus' is? Is it octopuses (English), octopi (Latin), or octopodes (Greek)? And on a similar note for another animal, it is platypuses, platypi, or platypodes?