The athletic-shoe brand ASICS takes its name from the initials of the Latin motto anima sana in corpore sano, usually rendered “a sound mind in a sound body.” That wording echoes the older phrase mens sana in corpore sano, from a satire by the Roman poet Juvenal, where the ideal is part of a prayer for a well-lived life rather than mere longevity. When the Japanese footwear company adopted its modern name, it turned the Latin into the acronym ASICS. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “From Juvenal’s “Mens Sana in Corpore Sano” to the ASICS Shoe Name”
You’re listening to A Way with Words, the show about language and how we use it. I’m Grant Barrett.
And I’m Martha Barnette. A poem by the ancient Roman author Juvenal included some good advice about living. He said, you should pray for a healthy mind in a healthy body. Ask for a stout.
Heart that has no fear of death and deems length of days the least of nature’s gifts.
Now, juvenile says, in other words, that you shouldn’t worry so much about the length of your life, but the quality.
But, of course, it’s the first line that has come down to us through the ages, a healthy mind and a healthy body.
And some people know the Latin version of that, which is mens sana in corpore sana.
And you can hear the roots of words like mental and sane.
But here’s the cool thing.
Here’s where we take the right turn.
Go to 1947 in Kobe, Japan. A Japanese guy founds a sneaker company.
A few years later, he’s looking for a name for that company,
And so he uses a version of that Latin phrase, anima sana in corpore sano,
Which roughly means the same thing, a sound mind and a sound body.
Anima sana in corpore sano.
He takes the first letter of each of those and comes up with the name of the sneakers that you see on lots of people’s feet today.
I’m trying to say it again.
Asics.
Oh, Asics.
Oh, I did not know that.
How about that?
That’s pretty cool.
Yeah, so when I look at people’s sneakers, I think of ancient Rome.
Juvenile, right?
Right.
That’s cool.
Asics is fantastic.
You are carrying language on your body, even if you didn’t know it.
And I’m not talking about tattoos.
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