semper ubi sub ubi

9.9

A joking mock-Latin phrase that says 'always wear underwear' to make people laugh

idiom

Informal

: siempre usa ropa interior

She ended her speech with the classic joke, 'semper ubi sub ubi,' making the whole room laugh.

Examples

Whenever his Latin teacher asked for a translation, he would mischievously reply with semper ubi sub ubi.
Remember to follow the advice: semper ubi sub ubi!
My grandfather used to say semper ubi sub ubi whenever he caught us leaving the house in a hurry.
My grandmother always said, 'semper ubi sub ubi!'
Whenever his Latin teacher asked for a translation, he would mischievously reply with semper ubi sub ubi.
She ended her speech with the classic joke, 'semper ubi sub ubi,' making the whole room laugh.
My grandfather used to say semper ubi sub ubi whenever he caught us leaving the house in a hurry.

Surface Forms

semper ubi sub ubi main

Morphology

semper + ubi + sub + ubi

Even knowing the literal Latin constituents ('semper' = always, 'ubi' = where, 'sub' = under), the compositional reading 'always where under where' does not yield the intended joking sense 'always wear underwear.' The effect depends on phonetic wordplay between mock‑Latin and English (a pun when spoken), so the meaning cannot be predicted from constituent meanings and is therefore opaque to a B1 learner.

Etymology

Semper ubi sub ubi is a fake Latin joke made from the words semper, ubi, sub, ubi. When you say it quickly it sounds like 'always wear underwear', so people use it as a playful pun or a funny reminder.