Vive, Viva

Vive, Viva and Vivat are interjections used in the Romance languages. Vive, in French, and Viva, in Spanish, Portuguese and Italian, Vivat, in Romanian literally mean, "long live." They are often used to salute a person or non-personal entity: "Vive le Québec libre" (from Charles de Gaulle's Vive le Québec libre speech in Montréal), or "Viva il Duce!", the rough equivalent in Fascist Italy of the greeting, "Heil Hitler." Additionally, in monarchical times the king of France would be wished, "Vive le Roi!" (Long live the King!)

Related Topics:
Interjection - Romance languages - French - Spanish - Portuguese - Italian - Romanian - Charles de Gaulle - Vive le Québec libre speech - Montréal - Duce - Fascist - Italy - Hitler

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In Spanish, for plural subjects, it becomes vivan.

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Compare ¡Viva el rey! with ¡Vivan los reyes!.

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An alternate form ¡Arriba ! ("Up with ") acquired a Falangist nuance from its use in their anthem Cara al sol.

Related Topics:
Falangist - Cara al sol

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In Italy, the nationalist phrase "Viva Vittorio Emanuele Re d'Italia!" ("Long live Victor Emmanuel king of Italy") was hidden from the Austrian enemy by its acronym Viva VERDI!, that passed for a praise of the music of Giuseppe Verdi.

Related Topics:
Vittorio Emanuele - Giuseppe Verdi

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In Italian graffitti, viva is often abbreviated as W, a letter otherwise foreign to Italian.

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The opposite concept morra ("Let die") is abbreviated as the visually opposite M.

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The use of these terms has increased in non-Latin nations recently; for example, a common greeting regarding the Anglophone city of Las Vegas is "Viva Las Vegas!" One reason may be that West Germanic languages do not have a good equivalent of the term; the closest may be Hail (English)/Heil (German), which understandably has tainted connotations. Nevertheless, Hail still appears in certain previously frozen expressions and usages, to wit: the song Hail to the Chief.

Related Topics:
Las Vegas - Viva Las Vegas - West Germanic languages - English - German - Hail to the Chief

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On July 25, 2005, upon winning his seventh consecutive Tour de France and subsequently retiring from professional cycling, Lance Armstrong ended his farewell speech with "Vive le Tour, forever."

Related Topics:
July 25 - 2005 - Tour de France - Cycling - Lance Armstrong

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