Illigitimi non Carborundum

During World War II, British intelligence apparently adopted “Illigitimi non Carborundum” as their mantra as the powers that be gave them impossible tasks and never seem satisfied with their results.

The first time that I heard the expression I was a sophomore in college. I had just been chewed out by a literature professor after a class ended. He was rude and did it in front of other people as a new group of students was filing in to the classroom. A young political science professor witnessed the whole thing. When the mean spirited prof left, the young one said to me, “Illigitimi non Carborundum.” I told him that my Latin was more than rusty and he whispered, “Don’t let the bastards grind you down.” Over the years, I have embraced that term when things get a bit rocky. In fact, I have a tie that has the term embossed on it. I wear it when I need it a jolt of confidence.

The older I get, it continues to amaze me how negative people can be. As recently as a few years ago, I told someone of a (modest) plan that I had been working on for some time. His response, with a sneer, was “someone like you could never do that.” I have been hearing that line or something similar to it since 1964 when I spent four years studying with the Christian Brothers who proved to be the least Christian people whom I have ever encountered. For some reason, people often want to cut us down and tell us what we cannot do. After I learned to embrace the Illigitimi non Carborundum mantra, my attitude became “who is going to stop me?”  Listening to valid criticism is valuable but comments from the mean spirited are hurtful and worthless.

I have learned to play things close to the vest. As I have written a number of times in this space, most things do not work out or at least the way we originally saw them. So, I am very careful about telling people what I am doing. My mind is going 24/7, I am an omnivorous reader, and I eat demographic, consumer and financial trends for breakfast . Markets have enthralled me since I was eight. I will never kick back and retire.

So I urge all of you to never give up on your dreams. Yet, be careful with whom you share them. Someone, usually an observer rather than a participant, will try and cut you down. Endorsing the wisdom of the Illigitimi non Carborundum cloak will help you overcome more than you can imagine.

By the way, there will be a Latin purist or two reading this. The term “Illigitimi non Carborundum is not proper Latin. Academics refer to it as “Dog Latin” or a mock translation. So be it. The term has helped me a lot when dealing with difficult people and kept my chin up. I bet that it can do the same for you.

If you would like to contact Don Cole directly, you may reach him at doncolemedia@gmail.com