Mottoes and Proverbs Test - Colorado Junior Classical League 2010
Directions: Please write your name, level of Latin, school name AND the name of this test on
your scantron sheet. Questions are NOT in order of difficulty!
Section I: Abbreviations
Abbreviations in the Ancient World:
1) SPQR represents:
a) The last day of the month
c) The pontifex maximus
b) The senate and the people of Rome
d) The commander of the army
2) The abbreviation C. stood for:
a) The fifth or seventh of the month
c) The name Gaius
b) The emperor
d) The direction north
3) Where would you most likely see the abbreviation SVBE?
a) on a tomb
b) on a monument celebrating a military victory
c) in a will
d) in a letter
4) The name Tiberius would be abbreviated:
a) T.
b) Ti.
c) Tib.
d) Tiber.
5) The abbreviation DN could stand for:
a) Consul
b) The high priest
c) Our Lord
d) An amount of money
6) The abbreviation PP could stand for:
a) Priest of Jupiter
c) Father of his country
b) And others
d) Twice per day
7) “IVN” on a coin could refer to:
a) military conquests
c) personality
b) political office
d) birth order
8) On a coin from the later Empire, “AVG” would refer to ____.
a) the senior of two emperors
b) the junior of two emperors
c) a rather mediocre emperor
d) the year, counting from the founding of Rome
9) On a Roman coin, “NOB” would stand for a:
a) gerund
b) three-word phrase
c) perfect passive participle
d) superlative adjective
10) On a Roman coin, the abbreviation P.F. would relate to the person’s:
a) birth order
b) political office
c) military conquests
d) personality
Abbreviations in the Modern World:
11) If you end a letter with “p.s.” and then think of another detail, what abbreviation would you
use to create a second add-on to your letter?
a) p.s.s.
b) p.p.s.
c) p.p.s.s.
d) p.s.ii
12) I like British actors, _____ Colin Firth.
a) n.b.
b) e.g.
c) i.e.
13) He is an exemplary thespian, _____ a very fine actor.
a) n.b.
b) e.g.
c) i.e.
d) etc.
d) etc.
14) The “m” in one meaning of the abbreviation “p.m.” comes from the Latin word:
a) mane
b) merx
c) meridies
d) minuere
15) The “m” in the other meaning of the abbreviation “p.m.” stands for:
a) morning
b) messenger
c) death
d) duty
16) If you average the meanings of the abbreviations: TID, SID, BID, you end up with:
a) TID
b) SID
c) BID
d) None of the above
17) The article was written by Professor Higgins, ______.
a) cf.
b) et al.
c) QED
d) n.b.
18) If you saw “h.s.” on the label of your medicine bottle, you would most likely:
a) take it with food
b) take it once a day
c) put the bottle on your nightstand
d) not take other medications until this medicine is gone
19) You would most likely see the abbreviation “INRI” in a:
a) church
b) doctor’s office
c) library
d) law office
20) Oddly enough, “sc.” should be read:
a) namely
b) and the rest
d) however
c) except
21) The abbreviation “ux.” decreases the original word by:
a) One letter
b) Three letters
c) Five letters
d) Two letters
22) An abbreviation derived from the Latin word for “white” is:
a) alb.
b) at.
c) nin.
d) can.
23) The abbreviations for gold, sodium, silver, lead, iron, copper are (in order):
a) Au, Na, Ar, Fe, Pb, Cu
b) Ar, Na, Ag, Pb, Fe, Cu
c) Ar, Na, Arg, Pb, Fe, Cu
d) Au, Na, Ag, Pb, Fe, Cu
24) You get a new prescription and see “a.c.” on the label. You:
a) take it before meals
b) take it before bedtime
c) take it every other day
d) take it four times a day
25) You really need to take better care of yourself; you get a THIRD prescription. This one has
“o.s.” on the label. You:
a) take it by mouth
b) shudder because it’s made of pulverized pig bones
c) put it in one of your eyes
d) take it before bed if the omens are favorable; take it before bathing if not.
Section II: Countries’ Mottoes; U.S. State, Military, and University Mottoes
26) Nil sine numine
a) Pennsylvania
b) Maine
c) Colorado
d) Hawaii
27) A mari usque ad mare
a) Switzerland
b) Germany
c) Ghana
d) Canada
28) Semper fidelis
a) U.S. Marine Corps b) U.S. Army
c) Boy Scouts
d) U.S. Air Force
29) Semper paratus
a) U.S. Army
b) Girl Scouts
c) FEMA
d) U.S. Coast Guard
30) Veritas
a) Yale
b) Duke
c) Harvard
d) Stanford
31) Lux et veritas
a) Yale
b) Duke
c) Harvard
d) Stanford
32) Si quaeris peninsulam amoenam, circumspice.
a) Massachusetts
b) Michigan
c) Maryland
d) Maine
33) Alis volat propriis
a) Hawaii
b) Florida
c) Colorado
d) Oregon
34) Eureka
a) Massachusetts
c) Louisiana
d) Kansas
b) California
35) Mens et Manus
a) Colorado State University
c) MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
b) Brown University
d) Boston University
36) Ad astra per aspera
a) Ohio
b) Kentucky
c) Kansas
d) Maine
37) Dum spiro, spero
a) Alabama
b) South Carolina
c) Georgia
d) Pennsylvania
38) Sic semper tyrannis
a) Massachusetts
b) Texas
c) South Dakota
d) Virginia
39) Excelsior
a) North Carolina
b) Florida
c) New York
d) Washington State
40) Virtute et armis
a) Arizona
b) Mississippi
c) Arkansas
d) Connecticut
41) Audemus jura nostra defendere
a) Delaware
b) Alabama
c) Illinois
d) Louisiana
42) Montani semper liberi
a) West Virginia
b) New York State
c) Montana
d) Utah
43) Vita, Dulcedo, Spes
a) Northwestern University
c) Penn State University
b) New York University
d) University of Notre Dame
44) Veritas vos liberabit
a) Wake Forest University
c) Boston College
b) Johns Hopkins University
d) Tulane University
45) Ditat Deus
a) Arizona
c) Minnesota
b) North Dakota
d) New Hampshire
46) Scuto bonae voluntatis tuae coronasti nos (unofficial motto; is on state seal)
a) Maryland
b) Connecticut
c) Indiana
d) New Mexico
47) Salus populi suprema lex esto
a) Rhode Island
b) Delaware
c) Missouri
d) Tennessee
48) Dirigo
a) Maine
c) Nevada
d) Wisconsin
b) Oklahoma
49) Joannes Est Nomen Eius
a) Guam
c) District of Columbia
b) Puerto Rico
d) St. John (U.S. Virgin Islands)
50) Dei sub numine viget
a) Brown University
c) The University of Michigan
b) Princeton University
d) The Catholic University of America
Section III: Proverbs
Complete the Proverb or Phrase:
51) in medias ____
a) cives
b) versa
52) ab ovo usque ad _____
a) mala
b) gallinam
c) res
d) mos
c) ovum
d) pedem
53) facta non ______
a) volat
b) verba
c) viam
d) virum
54) de gustibus non _______
a) viam inveniam
b) per aspera
c) disputandum est
d) te salutamus
55) in hoc signo _______
a) vinces
b) licet bovi
c) discede
d) aequo animo
56) non compos ______
a) in corpore sano b) mentis
c) cerebri
d) equos
57) sic transit gloria _______
a) mundi
b) hodie
c) irata
d) pulchra
58) quasi modo geniti ______
a) pulli
b) in caelo
c) coram Deo
d) infantes
59) aut disce aut ______
a) scribe
b) donate
c) discede
d) salite
60) ad calendas _______
a) proximas
b) Graecas
c) primas
d) relictas
61) gaudeamus ______
a) pedibus
b) cum amicis
c) aestate
d) igitur
62) anguis in _____
a) manu
b) capite
c) herba
d) terra
63) auribus teneo _____
a) lupum
b) tecum
c) angustam
d) viribus
64) repetitio mater ____
a) infantis
b) mea
c) paterque
d) memoriae
65) collige virgo ____
a) rosas
b) puerum
c) pulchra
d) gracilis
Meaning of Latin Phrases:
66) If your convention chaperone had to take you to the hospital, he/she would be acting:
a) non compos mentis
b) festina lente
c) in loco parentis
d) nil nisi bonum
67) “Terra firma” means:
a) solid, dry land
c) the seabed
b) rocky terrain
d) unknown land
68) “Pro forma” means:
a) done before the fact
c) bound by legal contract to do
b) done free of charge
d) done as a formality
69) “Quid pro quo” means:
a) an unknown amount
c) an even exchange
b) a witness who appears voluntarily
d) a lawyer’s hourly fee
70) “Sub poena” technically means:
a) having been written
b) under penalty
c) citizens who try to provide help in an emergency have some legal protection
d) secretly
71) “In vino veritas” means:
a) there is honesty in a (every) man
c) clothing made from plant material
b) in wine there is truth
d) pearls before swine
72) “Ab urbe condita” refers to time since:
a) Aeneas’ flight from Troy
c) the establishment of the Republic
b) the founding of Rome
d) the fall of Rome
73) “Homo homini lupus” refers to:
a) a wolf in sheep’s clothing
c) transmission of disease
b) man’s best friend (dogs)
d) man’s cruelty to man
74) “Tabula rasa” means:
a) something original
c) a set of written laws
b) a clean slate
d) a decorative inscription on a tomb
75) “Habeas corpus” deals with the issue of:
a) a healthy body
c) unlawful imprisonment
b) an eye for an eye (retribution for wrongs)
d) a body of written work by one author
76) “Sub rosa” means:
a) secretly
c) thorny in the sense of “dangerous”
b) thorny in the sense of “complicated”
d) under penalty of death
77) “Lex talionis” refers to:
a) property taxes collected after death
c) an eye for an eye
b) a statute of limitations
d) a written law
78) By “ex pede Herculem” you might conclude that:
a) parva vox, ergo parva puella
b) asinus fortis multum vehere potest
c) vir altus magnos pedes habet
d) vir improbus furtum faciet
79) A “lusus naturae” might be:
a) simius qui furtum facit
c) vir qui duodeviginti digitos habet
b) folia quae de arboribus cadunt
d) vir qui feminam in matrimonium ducit
80) “Quod cito acquiritur cito perit” could be represented by:
a) easy come, easy go
b) a fad
c) dust in the wind
d) in one ear and out the other
81) “Quod avertat Deus” would be said after something that:
a) you hope will happen
b) you are giving thanks for
c) you don’t want to happen
d) surprised you
82) “Eiusdem farinae” could summarize a boy and his father who are:
a) living under the same roof
b) working the family farm
c) drinking the well dry
d) cut from the same cloth
83) “Esse quam videri” could be equivalent to:
a) walk the walk
b) take a hike
c) six feet under
d) roll with the punches
84) “Fidus Achates” est:
a) amicus optimus
c) canis fidelis
b) servus improbus
d) nauta perita
85) “Sero venientibus ossa” could be equivalent to:
a) You snooze, you lose.
b) C’est la vie.
c) Carpe diem.
d) Que sera, sera.
Legal Latin:
86) A lawyer working “pro bono” would:
a) not collect a fee
b) represent the prosecution
c) represent a wrongly accused person
d) be working outside his/her area of expertise
87) “De jure” most closely means:
a) in contempt of court
c) in front of a jury
b) sanctioned by law
d) summoned to court by a legal document
88) “Sine die” would most likely mean:
a) a misdemeanor
b) a release from custody
c) an indefinite adjournment
d) a legal document that is invalid at the point of death
89) “In flagrante delicto” most closely means:
a) destroying evidence
b) red-handed
c) in the annals of law
d) inasmuch as it is known
90) He died without issue:
a) profectus est in umbram
c) fuit cum stirpibus
b) obiit sine prole
d) nihil virum
Musical Latin:
91) Based on your Latin knowledge, if “forte” means to play loudly, then “fortissimo” would
mean to play:
a) Very softly
b) Suddenly softer
c) Very loudly
d) Suddenly louder
92) The musical abbreviations m.d. and m.s. mean:
a) Louder and softer
b) Right hand and left hand
c) Faster and slower
d) Repeat from the beginning and repeat from a designated spot
93) The musical term “crescendo” comes from the Latin word meaning:
a) To die
b) To shrink
c) To grow
d) To be born
94) Which of these two are most opposite?
a) facile (from facilis, -e) and irato (from iratus, -a, -um)
b) lento (from lentus, -a, -um) and duolo (from dolor, doloris)
c) irato (from iratus, -a, -um) and lento (from lentus, -a, -um)
d) dolce (from dulcis) and duolo (from dolor, doloris)
95) If an orchestra plays “tutti,” how do they play?
a) all together
b) loudly
c) featuring soloists
d) with a muffled tone
Last Questions (Grab Bag):
96) “Cave canem” means:
a) Enter the cave
c) Beware the dog
b) Feed the dog
d) Avoid the cave
97) When you rush through an essay and turn in a mediocre product, your teacher might
advise:
a) cum grano salis
b) locum tenens
c) ne plus ultra
d) festina lente
98) Which of the following would most likely cause embarrassment?
a) nil nisi bonum
b) per capita
c) emeritus
d) lapsus linguae
99) “E pluribus unum” is the motto of:
a) The United States of America
c) Finland
b) Brazil
d) The Colorado Junior Classical League
100) When you read to your friend Billy, “O Sibili, si ergo; fortibus es in ero…” he thinks:
a) That it’s the beginning of a pseudo-Latin joke about 40 buses. (Imagine it read aloud!)
b) That you should choose “a” for an answer.
c) That you should choose “a” for an answer.
d) That you should choose “a” for an answer.