Serbian educational system in the 1990s and early 2000s did not get many things right, but the one thing it did was to introduce Latin in high school [Note: The gymnasium, to be more precise, or what is a lycée in France and I guess prep school in the US. And while I don’t think it has the same negative connotations in Serbia and France as it does in America — lycées and gymnasiums being as public as the other high schools — that may just be cluelessness on my part. ] and continue it in medical school. In retrospect not nearly enough, but what little of it we had seems to have stuck. I am therefore always surprised by my American colleagues not having a clue about what some or any of the bellow mean.
- Festina lente
- Caveat emptor
- Hic Rhodus, hic salta
- Omnia mea mecum porto
- Alea iacta est
- Mens sana in corpore sano
- De gustibus non est disputandum
- Deus ex machina
- Lupus in fabula
- Teneo te, Africa
- Cogito, ergo sum
Some of these have been repeated so often that they are part of the popular culture. I would expect gamers and fans of sci-fi to be familiar with Deus ex machina, and connoisseurs of expensive watches should have heard about Festina lente. To be clear, I’ve maybe heard of… 30% of what’s on this Wikipedia list. Looking at it, American lawyers should know more Latin that the doctors, but is that actually the case?