I just watched the Punisher with my dad on his sweet new widescreen hi-def TV, and noticed an odd bit of Latin.
The main character talks about his military training and says he was told repeatedly sic vis pacem para bellum: ‘if you want peace, prepare for war.’
Of course it should be si and not sic.
That’s not so bad as far as films go. It’s certainly not as bad as Rushmore‘s nihilo sanctum estne? which is supposed to mean ‘is nothing sacred?,’ but which can only mean ‘in nothing there is something sacred. Isn’t there?’
If I recall the Latin in Tombstone wasn’t bad, even if they were only quoting proverbs to one other.
I just found your blog on a google search. I was curious about the bit of latin in Rushmore (I felt like there was something wrong with it). Could you please tell me what the phrase, “Is nothing sacred?” really is in latin? Thanks
Although “In nothing there is something sacred. Isn’t there?” isn’t “Is nothing sacred,” the phrase goes well with the themes of the movie.