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BEST NEW MOTTO, UPDATED
By Paul Mordecai Rosenberg
It’s reported that Connecticut has been half-heartedly looking for a slogan to replace “Connecticut: Still Revolutionary,” which, besides being criminally deceptive, has to no one’s surprise proved a dismal failure in the decade or so it’s been used in a half-baked effort to attract tourism and commerce.
As it happens, our woebegone state also should be looking for a motto to replace the antiquated and clumsy Latin “Qui transtulit sustinet,” which in English means “He who transplanted sustains,” but probably has nothing to do with landscapers, arborists, or gardeners. While most things certainly sound and look better in Latin (probably because people don’t understand it), Connecticut’s motto is not among them; and it’s just as obtuse in English.
In the spirit of 21st-century rhetorical accuracy, versatility, and economy, then, it behooves Connecticut to come up with a new combination motto and slogan. Neighboring New York State thrives with the memorable marketing slogan “I Love New York,” which is often seen as “I Love NY” and commonly abbreviated “I (heart) NY.” But don’t most people think that refers only to New York City?
In all events, Connecticut’s big neighbor to the south, east, and west has long used the concise Latin motto “Excelsior,” which simply means “higher,” although the few New Yorkers who actually know it prefer to construe it as the more inspirational “ever upward,” doubtless alluding to taxes and anti-gun legislation, which excesses New York shares with Connecticut.
As it happens, finally having seen the light, in 2021 New York State made its license plates—known as markers in Connecticut—somewhat less dull by, among other devices, replacing its outworn “THE EMPIRE STATE” nickname at the bottom of the plates—markers—with the somewhat more dynamic motto “EXCELSIOR.” Excelsior is also very small type and stuffing material. Connecticut should keep the dynamic part in mind but dump the Latin and avoid the other stuff.
Ideally, then, Connecticut’s motto-slogan should exemplify the state and be short and sweet, easy to understand, entirely truthful, inspirational, and (of course) in English. For now, anyway. The obvious and perfect motto-slogan, in that case, must be “Forever Upward, Connecticut!” Is that inspirational or what? Take that, New York! And don’t bother reminding us that Connecticut has nowhere to go but up. We know it. Boy, do we know it.
In addition to not needing a picture, still another advantage of “Forever Upward, Connecticut!” is that it’s conveniently abbreviated as an initialism, in which the letters are pronounced individually, as in the clandestine government agencies “CIA” and “NSA”; as well as an acronym, in which the letters are pronounced as a word, as in the White House’s currently inseparable and most appropriate “POTUS” and “FUBAR.”
Thus, Connecticut’s exciting, inspirational new motto-slogan could be conveniently illustrated, published, and reproduced in its entirety, as three words, four individual letters, or even one word. Talk about conciseness and versatility. Three words, four letters, or one short word to say it all. With no need for pictures and only simple punctuation, to boot. “Forever Upward, Connecticut!” and “FU,CT!” “Wow!” as an unimaginative hack copywriter or eBay seller would put it.
Wilbur Cross, an English professor at Yale, noted Shakespeare scholar, and distinguished literary critic before he was elected to four terms as Democratic governor of our dynamic little state in the 1930s (when the terms of constitutional officers were only two years, as they should be again) and had part of Rte. 15 named after him, would surely have approved of the new motto-slogan.
It must be noted that the United States Supreme Court in 2019 ordered the Patent and Trademark Office to approve “FUCT” as the brand name of a line of clothing. So, even though deleting the comma would without doubt sharpen the point of our incisive acronym by reminding Connecticut taxpayers and gun owners of the pain they’ve been suffering far too long, the comma must nevertheless be included at all times in order to foreclose litigation for trademark infringement.
Moreover, in the interest of intellectual and political honesty the exclamation point (commonly known as a bang) must never but never be deleted, ignored, or disparaged. Because, besides rubbing it in to the foolhardy masochists who haven’t yet fled Connecticut and thus continue to suffer under irresponsible, self-serving government that’s metastasizing with every election, the bang emphasizes beyond any doubt not only the course of Connecticut’s taxes and dangerously entrenched one-party government, but also the attitude of the people who control the state Capitol with regard to all the people who don’t control the state Capitol.
So it’s a guaranteed win-win for Connecticut to adopt the unquestionably progressive new motto-slogan and display it proudly and prominently on a state flag that really needs to be updated. And consider how much more interesting and attractive the state’s new license plates—markers—will look after the dull, static “Constitution State” is replaced by the uncharacteristically dynamic “Forever Upward, Connecticut!”
Or simply “FU,CT!”
Copyright © 2022, Paul Mordecai Rosenberg
And show everyone how you appreciate Connecticut by displaying the nationality plate on your vehicle:
To get your Best New Connecticut State Motto nationality-plate magnet or lo-tac (easy-to-remove, non-damaging) car sticker; indoor sticker; lapel pin; or key-fob before Connecticut goes belly-up, simply click on this link to
info@fu-ct.com
and be patient . . .
I bowdlerized the essay for a Republican-American op-ed on 22 November 2022. Here’s that FU,CT!-less version:
It’s reported that Connecticut has been half-heartedly looking for a slogan to replace “Connecticut: Still Revolutionary,” which, besides being criminally deceptive, has to no one’s surprise proved a dismal failure in the decade or so it’s been used in a half-baked effort to attract tourism and commerce.
As it happens, our woebegone state also should be looking for a motto to replace the antiquated and clumsy Latin “Qui transtulit sustinet,” which in English means “He who transplanted sustains,” but probably has nothing to do with landscapers, arborists, or gardeners. While most things certainly sound and look better in Latin (probably because people don’t understand it), Connecticut’s motto is not among them; and it’s just as obtuse in English.
In the spirit of 21st-century rhetorical accuracy, versatility, and economy, then, it behooves Connecticut to come up with a new combination motto and slogan. Neighboring New York State thrives with the memorable marketing slogan “I Love New York,” which is often seen as “I Love NY” and commonly abbreviated “I (heart) NY.” But don’t most people think that refers only to New York City?
In all events, Connecticut’s big neighbor to the south, east, and west has long used the concise Latin motto “Excelsior,” which simply means “higher,” although the few New Yorkers who actually know it prefer to construe it as the more inspirational “ever upward,” doubtless alluding to taxes and anti-gun legislation, which excesses New York shares with Connecticut.
As it happens, finally having seen the light, in 2021 New York State made its license plates — known as markers in Connecticut — somewhat less dull by, among other devices, replacing its outworn “THE EMPIRE STATE” nickname at the bottom of the plates — markers — with the somewhat more dynamic motto “EXCELSIOR.” Excelsior is also very small type and stuffing material. Connecticut should keep the dynamic part in mind but dump
the Latin and avoid the other stuff.
Ideally, then, Connecticut’s motto-slogan should exemplify the state and be short and sweet, easy to understand, entirely truthful, inspirational, and (of course) in English. For now, anyway. The obvious and perfect motto-slogan, in that case, must be “Forever Upward, Connecticut!” Is that inspirational or what? Take that, New York! And don’t bother reminding us that Connecticut has nowhere to go but up. We know it. Boy, do we know it.
In addition to not needing a picture, still another advantage of “Forever Upward, Connecticut!” is that it’s conveniently abbreviated as an initialism, in which the letters are pronounced individually, as in the clandestine government agencies “CIA” and “NSA”; as well as an acronym, in which the letters are pronounced as a word, as in the White House’s currently inseparable and most appropriate “POTUS” and “FUBAR.”
Thus, Connecticut’s exciting, inspirational new motto-slogan could be conveniently illustrated, published, and reproduced in its entirety, as individual letters, or as a word. Talk about conciseness and versatility. Three words or four letters say it all. With no need for pictures and only simple punctuation, to boot. “Forever Upward, Connecticut!” “Wow!” as an unimaginative hack copywriter or eBay seller would put it.
It must be noted, too, that Wilbur Cross, an English professor at Yale and distinguished literary critic before he was elected to four terms as Democratic governor of our dynamic little state in the 1930s (when the terms of constitutional officers were only two years, as they should be again) and had part of Route 15 named after him, would surely approve of the new motto-slogan.
In the interest of intellectual and political honesty, of course, the exclamation point (commonly known as a bang) must never but never be deleted, ignored, or disparaged. Because, besides rubbing it in to the foolhardy masochists who haven’t yet fled Connecticut and thus continue to suffer under irresponsible, self-serving government that’s metastasizing with every election, the bang emphasizes beyond any doubt not only the course of Connecticut’s taxes and dangerously entrenched one-party government, but also the attitude of the people who control the state Capitol with regard to all the people who don’t control the state Capitol.
So it’s a guaranteed win-win for Connecticut to adopt the unquestionably
progressive new motto-slogan and display it proudly and prominently on a state flag that really needs to be updated. And consider how much more interesting and attractive the state’s new license plates — markers — will look after the dull, static “Constitution State” is replaced by the uncharacteristically dynamic “Forever Upward, Connecticut!”
Paul Mordecai Rosenberg is a commentator living in Litchfield.
