Get ready, time for a lesson!

So I deal with a lot of Latin phrases in the course I take (Business Management), so I thought I'd take this time to waste all of your time telling how to correctly pronounce Latin!

Latin is phonetic, remember that. It's always the same pronunciation, no matter what the word looks like.

Vowels:

A - Short as in cat, long as in father

E - Short as in pet, long as in they

I - Short as in pit, long as in machine

O - Short as in got, long as in holy

U - Short as in put, long as in true

Distinction between short and long vowels is usually done with an accent, but all vowels in all words can be either long or short, depending on how you say the word.

Consonants - Note that c and g are always hard in Latin (that means c is always pronounced as in camel and g is always as in goat). V is pronounced like W. As any Indiana Jones fan will tell you, in the Latin alphabet, Jehovah begins with an I - this is because the Latin alphabet HAS no J. Some Latin words are usually written with a J, but in this case, it should be pronounced like a Y - hence, "de jure" is pronounced "de yuu-re". In Latin, it would be written "de iure". T is also always pronounced as in "top", never as in "nation". The Latin word "ratio" (meaning "rate", literally) is pronounced "ra-tee-oh", not "ray-show".

Diphthongs:

AE - sounds like "eye"

OE - "oy" as in "boy"

AV or AU - "aw" as in "saw"

EI - "ay" as in "say"

EV or EU - sounds like "you"

This means that the correct pronunciation of the Latin "vice versa" - literally "with position turned" - is "wee-keh wehr-suh". However, don't say that, people will laugh at you. Also, "et cetera" - literally "and the rest" - is pronounced "et ketera", not "et setera". This one you MIGHT be able to get away with. Maybe. But don't count on it.

Latin phrases (as a bonus):

s.l. - sine loco (literally "without a place"), used for a reference when no place of publication is given

s.n. - sine nomine (literally "without a name"), used for a reference when no publisher is given (when no author is given, the reference is "anon", short for "anonymous", but that's not Latin, it's Greek, and comes from ἀνώνυμος meaning "without name")

et al. - either "et alii" (literally "and others"), used in place of et cetera to refer to a list of names, or "et alibi" (literally "and elsewhere"), used for places.

e.g. - exempli gratia (literally "for the sake of example")

i.e. - id est (literally "that is")

The difference is that e.g. is general, whereas i.e. is more specific. "Various types of music, e.g. rock, jazz and classical..." "The act of retreating, i.e. running away..."

RIP - requiescat in pace (literally "may he rest in peace"), often written on gravestones. Does not stand for "rest in peace" as many think.

ad lib -Short for ad libitum, literally "toward pleasure". Nowadays used as a verb meaning to improvise on the spot.

A.D. - Stands for Anno Domini, meaning "in the year of our Lord", short for Anno Domini Nostri Iesus Christi ("In the year of our Lord Jesus Christ"). Refers to years after the perceived birth of Jesus. The opposite, B.C., stands for Before Christ, but used to be a.C.n., which stood for "ante Christum natum" - before Christ was born. Nowadays, people use B.C.E. (Before Common Era) to be politically correct.

a.m. - ante meridiem (literally "before midday"), the period from midnight to noon.

p.m. - post meridiem (literally "after midday"), the period from noon to midnight.

ad hoc - Literally means "to this". Used to refer to things which are designed on the spot or for a single specific purpose.

carpe diem - Literally "seize the day", basically means live for today. "Carpere" actually means "pluck" rather than "seize" - the allusion is to picking flowers. Carpe noctem is the night-time equivalent.

caveat emptor - Literally "let the buyer beware", meaning that the customer is responsible for checking the quality of goods before purchasing them.

c. or ca. - circa (literally "around"), used for a date in the sense of "approximately" or "about".

cf. - confer (literally "bring together"), used to mark a cross reference in a text. "Confer" is where we get our words "confer" and "conference" from.

mea culpa - literally "my fault", used nowadays to mean a confession.

cum laude - literally "with praise", one of the academic honours in the United States. Higher titles are magna cum laude ("with great praise") and summa cum laude ("with highest praise"). Note that the Latin word cum (behave), which literally means "with", is used to describe a person who performs two functions, usually at the same time. For example, Granville from the comedy Open All Hours is described as a shopping assistant-cum-delivery boy. Kingdom Hearts players may remember the Four Crystal Trophy being described as the "summa cum laude" of Struggle, but the voice actor pronounced it according to English pronunciation as roughly like "lordy". The actual pronunciation is more like "louder".

deus ex machina - literally "a god from the machine". Latin translation of the Greek phrase ἀπὸ μηχανῆς θεός, which refers to a practice from Greek drama where an actor playing a god or goddess (often Athena) would be lowered by machine onto the stage in order to solve a conflict in the plot. Nowadays, the phrase is used in a derogatory way to mean a contrived or artificial solution to a story.

alea iacta est - Literally "the die has been cast". Julius Caesar's famous words after crossing the Rubicon. Nowadays used to mean passing the point of no return, but its meaning then was more like "the game is afoot". Sometimes written as alea jacta est.

Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori - Literally "It is sweet and honourable to die for the fatherland". From Odes III by Latin author Horace.

E pluribus unum - A rough translation is "From many, (comes) one" - it's difficult to literally translate this. The motto of the United States of America. Another translation is "Out of many, (is) one."

Memento mori - As the opening to Persona 3 puts it, memento mori is a Latin phrase that may be freely translated as "remember that you are mortal", "remember you will die". A name given to an object or phrase intended to remind people that death is inevitable. Literally it means "Remember that (you will) die". The opposite is memento vivere, literally "a reminder of life", which reminds people that although they must one day die, they must live until that day as well.

Veni, vidi, vici - I came, I saw, I conquered. Julius Caesar's concise report of his battle against King Pharnaces II.

Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus - Literally "A sleeping dragon is never to be tickled". Motto of the Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft And Wizardry in the Harry Potter books.

Pie Iesu domine, dona eis requiem - Literally "O sweet Lord Jesus, grant them rest". A line from the Requiem Mass, also chanted by the monks in Monty Python And The Holy Grail. Given the nature of Monty Python and the fact that the monks are hitting themselves with wooden boards while saying this, many fans have translated it more loosely as "Oh Christ, make it stop" or "Oh Lord, give us a break".

Habeas corpus - Literally "You should have the body". A prisoner's legal right to challenge the legality of their detention.

Quid pro quo - Literally "What for what", meaning a favour exchanged for a favour.

Ipso facto - Literally "by the fact itself" or "by that very fact".

Sic - Literally "thus". Used in quotations to show that a misspelling, for example, was written as that in the original text.

Ex post facto - Literally "from a thing done afterward". Used to mean a law with retroactive effect.

Modus operandi - Literally "method of operating", often shortened to MO. Used to describe a criminal's methods.

Ratio decidendi - Literally "reasoning for the decision", the legal principle on which a court case is established.

Obiter dictum - Literally "a thing said in passing", in law used to mean something said in one case that has an effect on another case. The plural is obiter dicta (all Latin root words ending in -um change the ending to -a in the plural, e.g. forum = fora).

Amicus curiae - Literally "friend of the court", a third party permitted to submit a legal opinion to a court.

versus - Latin word meaning "towards", often abbreviated vs. or v., used to show that two parties are in competition with each other, but this is actually modern English confusing it with adversus, which means against.

veto - Literally "I forbid". The act of stopping a vote or legal bill from passing.

via - Literally "by the road", meaning to get to somewhere by going through somewhere else, also used to mean "by way of" or "by means of", i.e. "I'll contact you via email". Correct pronunciation is "wee-ah", though often either pronounced "vee-ah" or "vye-ah".

vice versa - Literally "with position turned". Means when two things are switched in a description, or when the same thing applies in both ways. "Cats don't like dogs, and vice versa" (meaning cats don't like dogs and dogs don't like cats). Can also be written as versa vice, which means the same thing - Latin word order is flexible like that.

viz. - Short for videlicet, meaning roughly "namely", "that is to say" or "as follows". A contraction of videre licet, meaning "it is permitted to see" or "one may see".

viva voce - Literally "living voice", meaning an oral examination of a candidate as opposed to a written one. (Oral means spoken, quit sniggering like that).

sub poena - Literally "under penalty". A request, usually made by the court, that must be complied with under pain of punishment. Often written as subpoena. Usually pronounced "sub-PEE-na", though proper Latin pronunciation is "sub-poy-na".

There's loads more but you've probably fallen asleep by now. Light be with you!