Secretaries Day Cake

April 26, 2005 6:24 PM

Tomorrow is Secretaries Day and I need a latin saying to go on the cake I am baking.

I work in law firm that has no secretaries, just "legal assistants." While this may seem progressive, the firm is actually quite stodgy. It's the sort of place you would expect to hear latin spoken. The secretaries have a healthy tongue in cheek attidude about the atmosphere, as do I, and I would like to put something cryptic on the cake in latin. How do you say "Thank you administrative staff" in latin? Any other ideas for latin sayings on the cake. If it matters, it is a chocolate cake and the oven timer is beeping so make it snappy.

posted by madandal to law & government (11 comments total)

Dum Vivimus, Vivamus!

It means, "While we live, let us LIVE!" It is sort of like an exhortation against stodginess.
posted by ikkyu2 at 7:02 PM on April 26, 2005

Semper ubi sub ubi? (Always wear (where) underwear (where).) And thank you (plural) is gratias vobis ago. I can't find my dictionary to help you with administrative staff, tho.
posted by headspace at 7:03 PM on April 26, 2005

administratio: giving of help, administration, government
posted by fionab at 7:13 PM on April 26, 2005

1) English-latin translators abound, Google "english latin translator."

2) Google "latin phrases" for lots of classics.
posted by nanojath at 7:18 PM on April 26, 2005

Innovation Provectus Administrative Professio

is this year's theme
posted by warbaby at 7:22 PM on April 26, 2005

Me transmitte sursum, caledoni! - Beam me up, Scotty!
posted by warbaby at 7:32 PM on April 26, 2005

Quis custodiet ipsos secretares? - Who watches over the secretaries?
posted by AlexReynolds at 7:48 PM on April 26, 2005

Gratias Plvrimas Agamvs Amanvensibvs Nostris is a pretty unstylish way of saying it -- "we make great thanks to our secretaries". For "amanvensibvs" you could also substitute "scriptoribvs" which occurs much more frequently. I'm doing the v's for u's just to be cute. Let me think more about other snappy things, maybe try to find something nice from Cicero or somebody medieval.
posted by xueexueg at 8:26 PM on April 26, 2005

You could search Bartleby quotations for "office" or "secretary" or something and then translate into Latin.
posted by mediareport at 9:01 PM on April 26, 2005

Administrative staff are adiutores, so "thank you adminstrative staff" could be rendered as VOS SALVTAMVS ADIVTORES, which would fit neatly on a cake.
posted by verstegan at 2:17 AM on April 27, 2005

It's not real Latin, but there's always "Illegitimi non carborundum," which is reputed to mean "Don't let the bastards grind you down."
posted by kindall at 9:47 AM on April 27, 2005