What does fides nemo mean?

Question

I was wondering what it means. I was told it was latin. What does it mean in english.

Answer 1

Well, it's really meaningless in Latin. 'Fides' does mean 'trust', but the only verb form is second person singular, future tense - You will trust. 'Fides' is also the form for the noun 'trust' in several uses.

'Nemo' does mean 'no one', but only as used for the subject of a sentence - and then it would not match up with 'fides' as a verb.

It looks like someone went to a dictionary or a translator site and picked out head words in a definition and used them.

Fide nominem = Trust no one. (Singular command)
Fidite nominem = Trust no one. (Plural command)
Fides nominem = You (sing) will trust no one.

Answer 2

The genitive is what we call the "possessive". In English this has been reduced to a single sign, the addition of an "s". This can be confusing, as that "s" is also used for most plurals and to indicate the present-tense third-person singular of verbs. But it is at least consistent. Latin is a lot harder, as there are five "declensions" of nouns, each having a separate genitive for the singular and the plural, not to mention the many irregulars. There is no rational way to know these forms. They have to be memorized just as though there were some sense to them.

Answer 3

Ha, when I first read the question, I thought it was a typo for "Find Nemo." And I thought that was funny.

But yeah, "trust no one" sounds about right.

Answer 4

Trust no one.