University students planning graduate studies, particularly outside Canada, as at Oxford or Cambridge, face the necessity of having a language other than their mother tongue. Obiter dictum: The fact that we do not say "father tongue" acknowledges that mothers are still the first teachers of their children. It is sad, therefore, that many mums look, after school, chiefly to the recreational facilities of the local arena. Those who do not read daily to their pre-schoolers, never take older children to museums and art galleries or who do not encourage their language skills beyond marketplace English do them a disservice. I should say that in Canada, other than ensuring the retention of an ancestral family language, parents should concentrate on French and Latin. In the latter, "obiter dictum" (above) means "said in passing".

Apart from its influence on the development of English and French, Latin is the point at which studies of the natural sciences and of the humanities meet. The botanist and the biologist must know the Latin terms peculiar to their fields just as those in law must understand "habeas corpus" ("you must have a body"), those in history "e(x) pluribus unum" ("from many, one") or theological students "Athanasius contra mundum" (Athansius against the world" - and against many later self-styled "prophets". Philosophy, sociology and economics 'majors' will encounter 'summum bonum" (the "greatest good") and other basic classical phrases.

Most people come early to know that the abbreviation "i.e." means "that is" (Latin "id est"). "I am going to Toronto next Tuesday, i.e. April 4". Almost everyone understands that "P.S" ("post scriptum") means "written afterwards" and that "post mortem" means "after death". A few of us say occasionally "Tempus fugit" ("Time flies").and many understand that R.I.P. means "requiescat in pace" ("many he/she rest in peace". It is wise also to know when one is "persona non grata" ("a person not welcome") and to take the hint when someone confides "caveat emptor" ("let the buyer beware"). It is also smart to know the difference when something is "pro tem", short for "pro tempore" ("for a time") rather than longterm.

Those who consult reference books or bibliographies should understand that "q.v." ("quid vide") means "which see", referring to further treatment of the topic elsewhere. Another frequent Latin abbreviation, "ibid", shortens "ibidem" ("in the same place"), i.e. in the last place previously mentioned. There must be an anterior reference. The note "passim" means that a subject is dealt with "throughout" or "here and there" in a given volume or essay. As argued above, it is unfortunate for a student to begin secondary, let alone postsecondary, education without such basic Latinity.

This all came to mind when someone asked me recently the meaning of the words "In vias rectas" on the Dufferin County arms. I said "Is the phrase 'in the paths of righteousness' familiar?". The answer was "Yes, it's from the 23rd Psalm". I then pointed out that another translation would be "in the right ways". Similarly, the motto on the national armorial bearings is from Psalm 72. "A mari usque ad mare" means "From sea to sea". The snowflake medallion worn by members of the Order of Canada bears the words "Disiderantes meliorem patriam". From the New Testament Letter to the Hebrews (11:16), it says "They desire a better country". The motto of the Province of Ontario, "Ut incepit fidelis sic permanent", means "As it began loyal (i.e. with the United Empire Loyalists) so it remains".

Most universities have Latin mottoes. That of the University of Toronto is "Velut arbor aevo" (As a tree (grows) in age". Trent in Peterborough makes the modest Pauline claim "Nunc cognosco ex parte" ("Now I know (only) in part"). No college sophomore would ever admit that because it takes many years and mature wisdom to say so. Queen's in Kingston has the hopeful motto "Rerum cognoscere causas" (To know the cause of things)".

Those with a certain sense of humour like to play with Latin phrases. The "status quo" ("where [we] stand") has been paraphrased as "the mess we're in". George Bush and Tony Blair understand how one's 'stance' can become a 'mess'. "Sic transit gloria mundi" means "Thus passes away the glory of the world". It must have been a Classics student who, in protest against the deficiencies of Toronto Transit, scrawled on the wall of the St. George underground station "Sick transit. (signed) Gloria Mundy". And there was that schoolboy, clearly of a past generation, who re-interpreted the sublime thought "Ars longa vita brevis" ("Art is long, life is short"). Beneath a picture of a tombstone inscribed "Thomas Longbottom, 1650-1664" he wrote "Arslonga, vita brevis". Will such cultured wit ever flourish again in our classrooms?

Many a church cornerstone is inscribed "A.M.D.G." ("Ad majorem gloriam Dei" - "To the greater glory of God"). That dedication is not entirely appropriate for any ecclesiastical pile hereabouts, if indeed it is of any but a very few elsewhere in Canada. At least, and until 7 a.m. becomes universally 0700 hours and 7 p.m. is 1900 hours, the usual a.m. ("ante meridiem", "before midday") and p.m. ("post meridiem" ,"after noon ") abbreviations will remain. But how many high school students still know what Julius Caesar meant by writing from Gaul, "Veni, vidi, vici"? Or what he was telling the folks down in Rome when he wrote "Omnia Gallia in tribus partibus divisa est"? ("All Gaul is divided into three parts"). Let's hope, too, that some of their teachers have not forgotten to emphasise the ideal of "Mens sana in corpore sano" ("A healthy mind in a healthy body").

Meanwhile, there are other Latin phrases worth noting. Ren Descartes' "Cogito ergo sum" (I think, therefore I am") is one of them. "Quid pro quo" ("something in return for something" is another. One day when John Henry Newman was walking alone and deep in thought through Christ Church Meadow, Oxford, a colleague called to him "Numquam minus solus quam cum solus?" ("Never less alone than when you are alone?". One is fortunate to be that selfsufficient. Finally, aren't you glad that you know what "N.B." atop this column means? Very roughly speaking, it says "Read this".