"Ceterum censeo, Carthaginem esse delendam," the famous phrase with which Cato
the Elder used to finish all of his speeches, no matter how unrelated the
topic was. It was probably an effective strategy - as another well-known
political figure put it, "Repeat the most ridiculous thing a thousand times,
and people will start to seriously consider it."

In modern English, its usage is humorous, with irony directed at yourself as
you admit you are relentlessly nagging somebody about something you
(selfishly) believe they should do. Is there something similar in Japanese?

Since the historical background is completely different, I would imagine that
it does not carry over directly. Even though, for example, Wikipedia has an
article explaining 「カルタゴ滅ぶべし」, it is probably purely academic, not something
you could use in a conversation and be readily understood? Imagine you are
finishing each and every email to your friend with "That said, you should dye
your hair pink." To a Westerner/English speaker, the reference is obvious. How
would you go about expressing the same nuance in Japanese?
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2014-11-26T23:08:26.450
19677
2015-06-20T07:20:40.207
2014-11-27T07:43:11.510
7807
question
set-phrases culture
Equivalent of "That said, Carthage must be destroyed" in Japanese
I assume you are looking for a Japanese equivalent of "ceterum censeo" and are
not looking for an equivalent of "Carthaginem esse delendam" (or "Cartago
delenda est" if sticking to the indicative.)

My answer is: there is something remotely resembles to that expression, but
the usage is different (not that "serious," I would say.) It goes like
「それにつけても金の欲しさよ」 which means "That said, I want money."
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2015-06-20T07:20:40.207
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answer