quidquid Latine dictum sit altum videtur

9.9

A humorous saying that Latin words sound more important

idiom

Literature

: quidquid Latine dictum sit altum videtur

Whenever someone wanted to impress, he would remark, 'quidquid Latine dictum sit altum videtur.'

Examples

In his speech, he cleverly included 'quidquid Latine dictum sit altum videtur' to amuse the audience.
She wrote 'quidquid Latine dictum sit altum videtur' in the margins of the thesis to make a point.
Don't you find quidquid Latine dictum sit altum videtur funny?
When he quoted Cicero, I thought, quidquid Latine dictum sit altum videtur.
In his speech, he cleverly included 'quidquid Latine dictum sit altum videtur' to amuse the audience.
She wrote 'quidquid Latine dictum sit altum videtur' in the margins of the thesis to make a point.
Whenever someone wanted to impress, he would remark, 'quidquid Latine dictum sit altum videtur.'

Surface Forms

quidquid Latine dictum sit altum videtur main

Morphology

quidquid + Latine + dictum + sit + altum + videtur

The proverb's meaning is directly compositional from its parts: quidquid (whatever) + Latine (in Latin) + dictum (said) + sit (is) + altum (deep/profound) + videtur (seems) yields 'whatever is said in Latin seems profound.' Although the phrase is Latin and requires mapping Latin word order/inflection, a learner who knows the constituent meanings can readily derive the intended humorous meaning.

Etymology

Quidquid Latine dictum sit altum videtur may come from a simple scene: someone says an ordinary idea in Latine and the listeners nod because the words sound serious and learned. That's why the saying means 'whatever is said in Latin sounds profound' and is used to poke fun at using Latin to seem important.