GAMES/World of Puzzles

December, 2025

Scott Erdman

 

Can you define these Latin phrases that are still a major part of our language?

 

1. Mea culpa

2. Bona fide

3. E pluribus unum

4. Carpe diem

5. Tempus fugit

6. Tabula rasa

7. Rara avis

8. Cogito ergo sum

9. Corpus delicti

10. Caveat emptor

11. Ars longa, vita brevis

12. Nolo contendere

 

Answers:

 

1. My fault - I'm to blame

2. Good faith - authentic, genuine

3. From many one - motto of the United States

4. Seize the day

5. Time flies

6. Blank slate

7. Rare bird - a wonder or marvel

8. I think therefore I am

9. Body of the crime - concrete evidence of a crime

10. Let the buyer beware

11. Art is long, life is short 

12. No contest - A legal plea in which a defendant accepts conviction without admitting guilt