Illegitimi non carborundum

Illegitimi non carborundum is a mock-Latin aphorism, often translated as "Don't let the bastards grind you down". The phrase itself has no meaning in Latin and can only be mock-translated.

History

The phrase originated during World War II. Lexicographer Eric Partridge attributes it to British army intelligence very early in the war (using the dative plural illegitimis).

The phrase was adopted by US Army General "Vinegar" Joe Stilwell as his motto during the war, in the form Illegitimati non carborundum. It was later further popularized in the US by 1964 presidential candidate Barry Goldwater.

The phrase is also used as the first line of one of the extra dog Latin verses added in 1953 to an unofficial school song at Harvard University, "Ten Thousand Men of Harvard". This most frequently played fight song of the Harvard University Band is, to some extent, a parody of more solemn school songs like "Fair Harvard thy Sons to your Jubilee Throng". The first verse is a nonsense sequence of Latin clichés:

The phrase, often accompanied by an English translation, has appeared in many places:

1958, the novel Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, and film of the same name, as the motto of the main character, Arthur Seaton.

1959, Henry Slesar's mystery novel set in an advertising office The Grey Flannel Shroud (though not in its 1958 publication in Cosmopolitan

1963, possibly earlier, as illegitimus non carborundum used as the motto incorporated into the masthead of the Whitehorse Star newspaper.

1967, the song "Bill and Annie", on the album Running, Jumping, Standing Still by Spider John Koerner and Willie Murphy.