What Does 'Semper Ubi Sub Ubi' Mean?

[bsun2]

use of "vice versa"

My friend and I were discussing if this was an appropriate way to use the term "vice versa." He says that it can be used, making the sentence mean "if time decreases, turn left, and if time increases, turn right." I'm not sure if vice versa works in this case.

"If time decreases, turn left (& vice-versa)"

Thanks!

 

[cronxeh]

if your friend is correct and you are wrong then it doesn't matter, and vice versa.

 

[bsun2]

if your friend is correct and you are wrong then it doesn't matter, and vice versa.

I take this to mean "if your friend is correct and you are wrong or your friend is wrong and you are correct then it doesn't matter."

 

[Moonbear]

My friend and I were discussing if this was an appropriate way to use the term "vice versa." He says that it can be used, making the sentence mean "if time decreases, turn left, and if time increases, turn right." I'm not sure if vice versa works in this case.

"If time decreases, turn left (& vice-versa)"

Thanks!

Nope, can't be used in that situation. It would make the sentence mean: "If time decreases, turn left, and if time lefts turn decrease." Clearly it creates a nonsensical sentence. Vice versa is not used to imply the opposite of a statement, but to reverse the order of a statement.

 

[bsun2]

Nope, can't be used in that situation. It would make the sentence mean: "If time decreases, turn left, and if time lefts turn decrease." Clearly it creates a nonsensical sentence. Vice versa is not used to imply the opposite of a statement, but to reverse the order of a statement.

thanks for clearing that up! i knew something sounded wrong with that sentence!

 

[Knavish]

Yup, it's 'this to that' to 'that to this.'

 

[Chi Meson]

Although technically Moonbear is absolutely correct (vice verso is supposed to switch the positions of the nouns in this case), it is acceptable to change the noun along with its verb, making " if [you] turn left, time decreases."

This is called a "converse" statement (If A then B :: If B then A), and linguistically the "A" and "B" do not have to be single words but may be the subject-verb phrase. This is they way most people use it without confusion, so it becomes the rule.

Either way, your friend is implying an "inverse" statement (If A then B :: if not A then not B). But that's iff (if and only if) "not A" = "opposite of A." etc etc etc etc. Wonk wonk wonk. No matter how you dice it its not "vice versa," and since using it in this matter obviously does create confusion, it won't become part of the rule.

Liguistics is fun. But it kills a party even quicker than phisics does.

 

[BobG]

There's just something about the sound of the 'vice' part that causes confusion. I knew an instructor who taught the vis-a-vis equation in one of his classes. The wet erasable marker equation?! Turns out he meant Leibniz's vis viva equation ... or vice versa (maybe Leibniz wrote it with a wet erasable marker, but was confused about how to say it ... easily understandable since it hadn't been invented yet).

 

[Moonbear]

There's just something about the sound of the 'vice' part that causes confusion. I knew an instructor who taught the vis-a-vis equation in one of his classes. The wet erasable marker equation?!

I had a Latin teacher in high school who was a stickler for pronunciation, so in order to have normal conversations with people, I had to unlearn the proper pronunciation and learn the English pronunciation. The proper pronunciation is more like wee'-kay wear'-sa.

 

[Chi Meson]

:

I had a Latin teacher in high school who was a stickler for pronunciation, so in order to have normal conversations with people, I had to unlearn the proper pronunciation and learn the English pronunciation. The proper pronunciation is more like wee'-kay wear'-sa.

So you also know that Juius Cesar actually said: "weenee wedi weekee"

 

[BobG]

So you also know that Juius Cesar actually said: "weenee wedi weekee"

Thanks for that image. That's what we're missing in politics today...

Which of the following could you envision standing up in public wearing a toga and saying "weenee wedi weekee"?

George W.
Hillary
Rudi
Condi
John Kerry (with botox, of course)
Cheney?
Arnold?

We'd probably elect either Justin Timberlake or Janet Jackson.

Or else we'd elect Bill Clinton, again. Somehow, I could imagine him saying it and not looking any dumber than he usually does.

 

[Danger]

Which of the following could you envision standing up in public wearing a toga and saying "weenee wedi weekee"?

George W.
Hillary
Rudi
Condi
John Kerry (with botox, of course)
Cheney?
Arnold?

None of the above, but I can see Dubya being introduced as a weenee.

 

[hypnagogue]

Sorry to spoil the fun , but that's "veni, vidi, vici," pronounced "wen-ee, wee-dee, wee-kee"

 

[Moonbear]

Sorry to spoil the fun , but that's "veni, vidi, vici," pronounced "wen-ee, wee-dee, wee-kee"

Yep, hypnagogue to the rescue!

 

[Danger]

Yep, hypnagogue to the rescue!

We've discussed this before, Moonbabe... you have to give me more to work with.

 

[Chi Meson]

Sorry to spoil the fun , but that's "veni, vidi, vici," pronounced "wen-ee, wee-dee, wee-kee"

Fudge. There goes another chunk of my brain.

 

[DaveC426913]

My wife learned the phrase: Temper ubi sub ubi

 

[Moonbear]

My wife learned the phrase: Temper ubi sub ubi

It's "semper ubi sub ubi." Although, it's only funny to say the translation, because the meaning is entirely different than how it sounds. But it did get our class to remember that "ubi" = "where"