Interesting pin

[revdpatience]

Nick:

Spelling helps in Latin just as much as in English ... says I, the tortured third-generation English major :rolleyes:

"Illegitimi" = as in legitimate or legal
"carborundum" = as others have noted, a trade name

See this page for more of the story behind the motto.

Another favorite Latin inscription of mine is "De gustibus non est disputandum" -- there's no accounting for taste.

Cheers!

Rodger

My Latin dictionary doesn't have an entry for a form of illigitimi, but it does for nothus (3): bastard; counterfeit. I also can't find anything for corborundum, but it does have an entry for "grind down", opprimo (3), and "grind", contero (3). But, my dictionary isn't a large one. I need to invest in a comprehensive Latin dictionary and Medieval Latin dictionary.

One thing, of course, is that Latin mottos often don't make any sense when translated literally into English. There's often a bit of freedom exercized.