the.com/motto
A life philosophy short enough to fit on a mug, long enough to never actually follow.
means A short phrase that sums up a guiding principle or ideal, adopted as a rule to live or act by.
from Straight from Italian 'motto,' meaning a word or saying — itself traced back to Vulgar Latin 'muttum,' a grunt or mutter (related to the verb 'muttire,' to mumble). So the word that ends up engraved on crests and coats of arms started life as something closer to a mutter under one's breath — a far humbler whisper than the grand declarations it now dignifies.
- origin
- Italian for word or saying
- heraldry link
- originally paired with family coats of arms
- brevity rule
- loses power past seven words
- nike exception
- just do it outsold entire philosophy departments