Talk:Nemo me impune lacessit

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Comment - this motto is used on the fabric bands used by police to cover their badges while mourning a deceased officer. Probably linked with the large Scots-Irish population in American law enforcement.

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[edit] A question of translation

I always understood the correct translation of lacessit to be harm, injure or wound rather than the apparently more popular provoke or attack, but it's a long time since I used Latin "in anger" so I don't propose to alter the article, unless I get encouragement here.

A freer, more colloquial ("literary"?) translation that I personally prefer is "Touch me at your peril".

Brent L

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Having visited Scotland two days ago, I witnessed a local Scottish tour guide translating "Nemo me impune lacessit" as "Wha dare meddle wi' me (?) ". I also later met this translation on a whisky bottle carrying the Black Watch tartan and coat of arms.

RoCket

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A latin phrase popularized from the Edgar Allen Poe story, "The Cask of Amontillado". The phrase is classically translated to mean, "No one attacks me with impunity." The antagonist of the story has performed a great wrong against the protagonist, and the protagonist lures the antagonist into a trap with the promise of a rare vintage of wine.

Grokent

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In actual fact it is based on the highland thistle "No one attacks me with impunity"

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Bernie Sweeney (scotland)

in actual fact it means "No one provokes me with impunity" and is the Motto of scotland and dates back to prob the creation of the order of the thistle,

The Order of the Thistle represents the highest honour in Scotland, and it is second only in precedence to the Order of the Garter. The date of the foundation of the Order is not known, although legend has it that it was founded in 809 when King Achaius made an alliance with the Emperor Charlemagne.

As of 1984 it can be found on the side of a £1 scottish coin (sterling)