# Quo vado? Et, cur in corbula sum?



## AsifAkheir

Salve, everybody.
I'm trying to invent a humorous family motto to hand down to my descendants - 'Where am I going? And why am I in a handbasket?' - inspired by the well known English expression. My problem is, I've come across too many possibilities for 'handbasket'.

In the phrase, "Quo vado? Et, cur in corbula sum?", is corbula the best choice or would one of the following be better?

canistellum
canistrum
canua
cartallus
corbula
cofinus
qualus
qualum
sporta
fiscus
sportula
vimen

 And, more importantly, is there a way to rephrase it to make it sound even more pompous?

Gratiae et vale.
Asif.


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## Scholiast

Salvete amici!


> the well known English expression


Pomposity is one of my strong suits. But I have to admit (declare) that even as a native BrE speaker I have never encountered this phrase before. But the excellent Merriam-Webster (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/handbasket) shows this result.
It's evidently an American/Canadian usage meaning "to go to ruin".
In the context, therefore,
_quonam ibo? et cur in ruinam?_
There will undoubtedly be more replies on this site before you become a "basket-case" - the BrE idiom - so wait for more suggestions. This promises to become quite an entertaining thread.

Σ


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## AsifAkheir

Scholiast said:


> as a native BrE speaker I have never encountered this phrase before.
> 
> Σ



Thanks Scholiast. That is very surprising. I thought all along it was a British epression, but the Oxford Dictionary lists as North American. Well, you learn somethin' new every day! I should check the dictionary more often.


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## wandle

I have met the phrase in a political context. Michael Quinion has an interesting discussion of it here. If it is the devil carrying the person off, then clearly (1) the issue has passed the point of judgement: the execution is already under way; and no doubt (2) the devil's handbasket is quite big enough to hold a person.

The point of the exercise, I take it, is to make a 'translingual' or cross-cultural joke; and therefore to retain the basket image, I would suggest:

*Quonam, Iuppiter, vehor? Et quare denique in canistro?*

Notes:
*quonam*, 'whither, pray?' suggests a feeling of indignation.
*Iuppiter* (vocative case: addressing Jupiter, the ruler of the gods, who is also the god of justice) adds to that. 
There is also the intriguing fact that Virgil uses the expression *Iuppiter Stygius* to refer to Pluto, the god of the underworld, as if Pluto were another manifestation of Jupiter. Thus the speaker might be seen as attempting to appeal to the god of heaven and justice, while unintentionally invoking the god of hell.
*vehor* (passive of *veho*, carry) is regularly used for travelling in a conveyance of any kind.
*quare*, 'on what ground?' is a bit more circumstantial than *cur*.
*denique* expresses a climax, raising things to a higher level.
*canistrum* is a basket for carrying fruits: in a religious context, it is used for sacrificial offerings.

Thus the implication of these nuances would be:  
Whither, O God, am I being taken? And why, of all things, in a sacrificial basket?


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## AsifAkheir

wandle said:


> The point of the exercise, I take it, is to make a 'translingual' or  cross-cultural joke; and therefore to retain the basket image, I would  suggest:
> 
> *Quonam, Iuppiter, vehor? Et quare denique in canistro?*
> 
> Thus the implication of these nuances would be:
> Whither, O God, am I being taken? And why, of all things, in a sacrificial basket?



Thank you wandle. Translingual is what I'm going for. It never  occurred to me that the classical Gods could become involved, though. I  was just linking  'going to hell in a handbasket ' with "Quo Vadis" a  movie title that stuck in my brain from my childhood. I finally looked  it up in Wikipedia and it says the 1951 movie is based on one of the  apocryphal acts of Peter.

Peter's fleeing from likely crucifixion in Rome and he meets a risen Jesus. Peter asks him "_Quo vadis?_", to which he replies, "_Romam vado iterum crucifigi_"  ("I am going to Rome to be crucified again"). Peter thereby gains the  courage to continue his ministry and eventually  be martyred himself.

 Your suggestion makes it transreligious and  translingual. I definitely like "Et quare denique in canistro?".  "Quonam, Iuppiter, vehor?" is interesting, but not really terse is it? Perhaps there's a terser way of involving the pagan Gods?


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## AsifAkheir

PS - Your link to Michael Quinion's discussion of   'going to hell in a handbasket ' results in a 'Page not found' message.


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## wandle

I understood the allusion to _Quo vadis_?  However, the verb _*vado*_ strongly implies walking (or running) and doing so in voluntary or determined fashion.


AsifAkheir said:


> "Quonam, Iuppiter, vehor?" is interesting, but not really terse is it? Perhaps there's a terser way of involving the pagan Gods?


It is difficult to be terser than a single word. *Iuppiter* can certainly be left out. It was included for pomposity: suggesting an indignant and self-important appeal to the ruler of heaven, in order to put right a situation in which the speaker is being carried off against his will.


AsifAkheir said:


> PS - Your link to Michael Quinion's discussion of   'going to hell in a handbasket ' results in a 'Page not found' message.


I have now corrected the link (it was due to accidentally putting a full stop at the end of the url).


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## AsifAkheir

wandle said:


> the verb _*vado*_ strongly implies walking (or running) and doing so in _*voluntary*_ or determined fashion.


Ah, I didn't know that. Live and learn!
Thanks, wandle.


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