Latin, the city motto of Paris, France, depicted on her coat of arms: Shaken up, not sunk.

The popular French translation is "Elle est agitée par les vagues, et ne sombre pas." The motto refers both literally to the long maritime and municipal success of Paris' boatmen, and figuratively to the city's survival during numerous turbulent periods of history.

Fluctuat is third-person singular present active indicative of Latin fluctuo "I surge, I toss about (or am tossed about)," figuratively "I am restless."

Nec is an exclusively negative Latin conjunction, meaning "nor, neither, not even, (this) and not (that)."

Mergitur is third-person singular present passive indicative of Latin mergo "I sink, I drown, I plunge below water," figuratively "I suppress, I hide."

Due to the sheer lexical breadth of fluctuo and mergo, an acceptable alternative translation of the motto would be "Restless and not suppressed."

Iron Noder 2015, 14/30

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