# te deum laudamus



## longxianchen

Hi,
Here are some words from the novel Lady Chatterley's Lover(page 321, chapter 15) by Lawrence (planetebook,here):
(background: Mellors told Connie that When the last real man is killed, and they’re all tame: white, black, yellow, all colours of tame ones: then they’ll all be insane.)

_‘…… And if we go on in this way, with everybody, intellectuals, artists, government, industrialists and workers all frantically killing off the last human feeling, the last bit of their intuition, the last healthy instinct; if it goes on in algebraical progression, as it is going on: then ta-tah! to the human species! Goodbye! darling! the serpent swallows itself and leaves a void, considerably messed up, but not hopeless. Very nice! When savage wild dogs bark in Wragby, and savage wild pit-ponies stamp on Tevershall pit-bank! te deum laudamus!’_


I  can guess *ta-tah* means* ta-ta*(=bye), but what does  *te deum laudamus* mean please? 
Thank you in advance


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## Packard

It is Latin for "God we praise you".

If you Google the Latin words you will get a translation.

From Encyclopedia Britannica online:

* Te Deum laudamus, *( Latin: “God, We Praise You”, ) also called Te Deum, Latin hymn to God the Father and Christ the Son, traditionally sung on occasions of public rejoicing. According to legend, it was improvised antiphonally by St. Ambrose and St. Augustine at the latter’sbaptism.


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## entangledbank

We praise you, God. It's the first words and therefore the name (also Te Deum) of a hymn traditionally sung after a victory.


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## longxianchen

Thank you. But is it also a name of a song(in a Chinese version, it's translated as a song name)


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## Myridon

Te Deum - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


> The Te Deum (also known as Ambrosian Hymn or A Song of the Church) is an early Christian hymn of praise. The title is taken from its opening Latin words, Te Deum laudamus, rendered as "Thee, O God, we praise".


From the Word Reference dictionary on "hymn":


> a song of praise, esp. to God.


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## se16teddy

longxianchen said:


> Thank you. But is it also a name of a song(in a Chinese version, it's translated as a song name)


There are hundreds of musical settings. I am not sure what characteristics you associate with the word "song"! Te Deum - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## metaphrastes

The Te Deum is, traditionally, in many Churches, West and East, a hymn of thanksgiving, not only after a victory, but in the ceremony of crowning of kings, in the new year, &c. It was and is widely used in the Anglican Church - then, in England, it is a very clear cultural reference.


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## voltape

it is a hymn sung after the office of matins (midnight office) in the Roman Catholic church -on Sundays and holidays, and on days classified as "Solemnities" and "Feasts".  Te Deum laudamus, te Dominus confitemur, te aeternum patris ... etc.


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