O tempora! O mores!

[oh tem-poh-rah oh moh-reys, oh tem-per-uh oh mawr-eez, mohr-]

Latin.

1. O times! O customs!

O tempora! O mores!

/ əʊ ˈtɛmpɔːrɑː əʊ ˈmɔːreɪz /

1. oh the times! oh the customs!: an exclamation at the evil of them

Word History and Origins

Origin of O tempora! O mores!¹

from Cicero's oration In Catilinam

Example Sentences

“O tempora o mores”? Weltanschauung?

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Mr. Millstein wrote that the jazz policy was “the newest case of O Tempora O Mores, an affliction producing glass office buildings on Park Avenue and frozen blintzes in grocery stores.”

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One, being in haste, did skewer his tongue to his palate with it I hear; O tempora, O mores!

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O tempora, o mores--there you are!

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But as Cicero knew a politician can't go wrong exclaiming, "O tempora, O mores!" – decrying modern times and declaring that things were better in the past.

Read more on The Guardian