Expert: Maria - 5/26/2010

Question
My high school motto is "homines montes sigut."  Our team mascot name is the Miners, so I am guessing it has something to do with "mountain men," but I do not find "sigut" anywhere online.  Can you translate the phrase for me, please?

Answer
Hello,

This motto reads correctly “Homines sicut montes“ which means literally:“Men like mountains” just to denote that men must be strong like mountains and then steadfast  in adversity.

Note that “sicut”(not”sigut” which does exist in Latin) means “like”, while “Homines” (nominative plural of “Homo”, 3rd.declension) means “men” and “montes” (nominative plural of “mons”, 3rd.declension) corresponds to “mountains”.

As for your team mascot name “The Miners”, i.e. those who extract ore or minerals from the earth, it has to do with men who dig into the mountains.

In Latin “The Miners” translates as “Fossores”  which is the  nominative plural of “Fossor”, 3rd.declension, just meaning “a miner, workman in a mine”.

Hope this is clear enough.
Have a nice day,
Maria