Otto Soglow Art from "Liberated Latin"

 

 

Here are some wonderfully drawn and wonderfully awful puns from Liberated Latin, "Freely Collected and Translated by Dick Shaw, With Illustrations by O. Soglow." This small humorous hardcover was published in 1951 by Doubleday and is copyright the same year by Richard Arndt and Otto Soglow. This is the first printing and I have no idea if there were subsequent editions. Any chance to show some Soglow art is fine by me.

There are 44 Latin puns in the book. Here are a few. The real, non-pun definitions are at the end.

Bona fide. "Give the dog a bone."

A posteriori. "Some rear view"

Stet. "Ten-gallon hat."

Carpe diem. "U-drive-it."

Locum tenens. "Next-door neighbors."

Summa cum laude. "June is bustin' out all over."

Corpus delecti. "Some shape."

Vice versa. "Bawdy jingles."

Ad nauseum. "I'm sick of commercials."

Quasi. "Butterflies in the stomach."

Status quo ante bellum. "Who says Auntie's putting on weight?"

Sic transit gloria mundi. "Gloria always gets carsick the first of the week."

Persona non grata. "PAL blades are easy on the face."

Opus. "Here, kitty."

Nota bene. "Flat broke."

Magna Carta. "Cadillac."

Supersedeas. "They're the suds with the super-do-o-o."

De legibus. "Convertible full of girls."

Alter ego. "The marrying kind."

And here are the actual, literal translations of the Latin terms:

Bona fide - In good faith

A posteriori - From the latter

Stet - Let it stand

Carpe diem - Enjoy the present

Locum tenens - One holding the place

Summa cum laude - With highest priase

Corpus delecti - The substance of the offense

Vice versa - Conversely

Ad Nauseum - To the point of causing nausea

Quasi - As if

Status quo ante bellum - The state existing before the war

Sic transit gloria mundi - So passes away the glory of the world

Persona non grata - A person who is not acceptable

Opus - Work

Nota bene - Take notice

Magna Carta - The great Charter

Supersedeas - Stay of procedure

De legibus - Concerning laws

Alter ego - Another self

Note:

The "Persona non grata. 'PAL blades are easy on the face.'" pun was a reference to a then-popular brand of razor. (Drawing not by Soglow.)