Latin LOLCat: To Learn

Here is today's Latin LOLCat: This is one of those rhyming medieval Latin proverbs: vultis - multis. The multis in Latin could mean "in many ways" or "for many people." In Latin, you don't have to choose; trying to get that same sense is how I ended up with the double translation below. If you are interested in Latin proverbs and fables, check out the Bestiaria Latina blog.

Discere si vultis, prodest sapientia multis.

If you want to learn, wisdom has many benefits / benefits many.

Latin LOLCat: Blessed

Here is today's Latin LOLCat. Note that the Latin rhymes: homo - domo. The Latin word beatus which you see here gives us the English word "beatitudes," a term used to refer to the famous sermon with the refrain "blessed are you" from the Gospels of Matthew and Luke; you can read more about that at Wikipedia. If you are interested in Latin proverbs and fables, check out the Bestiaria Latina blog.

Beatus ille homo qui vivit sua domo.

Blessed is he who lives in his own home.

Latin LOLCat: Wisdom

Here is today's Latin LOLCat; you can see a very similar rhyme in this poster (it's common for there to be little variations like this from one version of a proverb to another). If you are interested in Latin proverbs and fables, check out the Bestiaria Latina blog.

Discat, qui nescit, nam sic sapientia crescit.

Let him learn who does not know, for thus does knowledge grow.

Latin LOLCat: Like Seeks Like

Here is today's Latin LOLCat: Be sure to read this with medieval pronunciation for the rhyme - querit/erit. If you are interested in Latin proverbs and fables, check out the Bestiaria Latina blog.

Sic fuit, est, et erit: similis similem sibi quaerit.

Thus it was, is, and will be: like seeks like.

Latin LOLCat: Sweet fruit

Here is today's Latin LOLCat: The Latin RHYMES - fructus/ductus... I am a big fan of rhyming Latin proverbs, and the rhyme betrays the medieval origin of these proverbs (the ancient Romans did not like rhyme so much). This rhyming proverb has gained a lasting fame by being used by Rabelais! If you are interested in Latin proverbs and fables, check ou the Bestiaria Latina blog.

Dulcior est fructus post multa pericula ductus.

Sweeter is the fruit obtained after many dangers.

Poster: Adam & Eve

When Adam delved and Eve span, who was then the gentleman?
(English proverb)

The source for this rhyming proverb is English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases by William Carew Hazlitt (Google Books). The poster is made with AutoMotivator. The image is a 14th-century painting at Wikipedia. This proverb was famously invoked by the radical English priest John Ball, a leader of the Peasants' Revolt of 1381.

Poster: Stitch in Time

A stitch in time saves nine.
(English proverb)

The source for the proverb is David Crystal's book, As They Say in Zanzibar: Proverbial Wisdom from Around the World (Oxford University Press: 2006). The poster is made with AutoMotivator. The image is by Albert Anke. The saying also features near-rhyme: time - nine.

Proverb: Fried Eggs

No chick ever came from a fried egg.
(Latin: Ex frixis pullus ovis numquam venit ullus.)

The source for the proverb is Philosophia Patrum by Julius Wegeler (GoogleBooks). The poster is made with AutoMotivator. The image by mccun934 (Flickr).

Poster: Running Away

He that fights and runs away may live to fight another day.
(English proverb)

The source for this rhyming proverb is English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases by William Carew Hazlitt (Google Books). The poster is made with AutoMotivator. The image is at Cheezburger

Proverb: An Ape's an Ape

An ape's an ape, a varlet's a varlet,
though they be clad in silk or scarlet.
(English proverb)

The source for the proverb is English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases by William Carew Hazlitt (GoogleBooks). The poster is made with AutoMotivator. The painting "The Monkey Who Had Seen the World" is by Edwin Henry Landseer at Wikipedia.

Poster: A Little Pot

A little pot is soon hot.
(English proverb)

The source for the proverb is English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases by William Carew Hazlitt (GoogleBooks). The poster is made with AutoMotivator. The image is by montroyaler at Flickr.

Poster: Summer and Winter

What summer stores up, the winter consumes.
(Polish: Co lato odkłada, to zima przejada.)

The poster is made with AutoMotivator. The image shows home-canned food at Wikipedia.

Poster: The Soul

Yet stab at thee who will, no stab the soul can kill!
(Sir Walter Raleigh)

The source for the proverb is Forty Thousand Quotations: Prose and Poetical by Charles Noel Douglas (Bartleby.com). The poster is made with AutoMotivator. The image shows the duel of Volker the minstrel and Islan the monk at Wikipedia.

Poster: All Things

No living man all things can.
(English proverb)

The source for the proverb is English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases by William Carew Hazlitt (GoogleBooks). The poster is made with AutoMotivator. The image is of a one-man band; photo by Andrew Malone Flickr.

Poster: Good Luck

See a pin and pick it up:
all the day you'll have good luck.
(English proverb)

The source for the proverb is English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases by William Carew Hazlitt (GoogleBooks). It is also included in the Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs, edited by Jennifer Speaker. Although the ODP reports on contemporary usage, it does not report a usage that I have heard: "Find a penny, pick it up, and all day long you'll have good luck." Given that people are much more likely nowadays to find a penny lying around than a pin, I am not surprised by this usage (it's even part of the Wikipedia article on "penny") - and I am surprised that it is not mentioned in the ODP.

The poster is made with AutoMotivator. The image above is a photo of a pincushion by 46137 at Flickr, and the image below is a penny by miguelb at Flickr.

Poster: Birds of a Feather

Birds of a feather flock together.
(English proverb)

The source for the proverb is David Crystal's book, As They Say in Zanzibar: Proverbial Wisdom from Around the World (Oxford University Press: 2006).
The image is by mikebaird at Flickr.
The poster is made with AutoMotivator.

Poster: Weeds

A man of words, and not of deeds, is like a garden full of weeds.
(English proverb)

The source for the proverb is English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases by William Carew Hazlitt (GoogleBooks). The poster is made with AutoMotivator. The image shows weeds at Wikipedia.

Proverb: Different Strokes

Different strokes for different folks.
(English proverb)

The source for the proverb is Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs by Jennifer Speake (Amazon). The poster is made with AutoMotivator. The image is from New Orleans, Mardi Gras 2013, at Wikipedia.

Proverb: God Helps Them

You be a worker, and God will be your helper.
(Latin: Esto laborator et erit Deus auxiliator.)

The source for the proverb is Philosophia Patrum by Julius Wegeler (GoogleBooks). The poster is made with AutoMotivator. The image is by Lawrence OP (Flickr).

Proverb: Birds and Nests

Every bird thinks its own nest is beautiful.
(Latin: Est avi cuique nidus formosus ubique.)

The source for the proverb is Philosophia Patrum by Julius Wegeler (GoogleBooks). The poster is made with AutoMotivator. The image is by crossn81 (Flickr).