HappyHoosier Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 Latin has been slowly killed off by successive education secretaries as it's seen as a waste of time when kids could be learning business skills like MS Word. However those goons have missed the point; you don't learn Latin so you can read Virgil, you learn it because figuring out how all those ablatives, conjugations and passive periphrastic things fit together makes you smarter. If you make kids smart enough, they'll be able to press F1 all by themselves. Plus Latin's capacity for insults is amazing. Some of us learn Latin so we can read Virgil! Arma virumque cano... (Sorry, I was a Literature major.) I agree with your point, though: If you know even a little Latin, you can work out the meanings, spellings and pronunciation of so many words in English and other languages. It's like a magical key that unlocks doors to greater knowledge. Plus, it's fun to whip out some Latin words and phrases to impress friends and colleagues now and then. Tempus fugit. Carpe diem. Modus operandi. Etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jezzyjj Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 Yes, that's the book jezzy! (couldn't remember the name, I lent it out) I believe that people could pick out a few points that aren't quite accurate, as with any book. But as a whole, a very interesting book, and quite educational. And as with all his books, easy to read. But when someone makes mistakes on the things you do know about, it then undermines the facts that you are unaware of. One point he made that was quite interesting [if true] and relevent to this thread, was that the rules of English came about when teaching was codified in the 17-18th Century. They thought, 'We need some rules to help people learn' so they took the rules of Latin and simply stuck them onto English. Which was a bit of a booboo as English is actually Germanic, with lots of Romance [Latin originated] language words mixed in. If you want to read about lanuage from a more fundamental viewpoint. I recommend 'The Language Instinct' by Stephen Pinker. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Language-Instinct-Science-Mind-Penguin/dp/0140175296 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrH Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 Caeser adsum jam forte Brutus aderat Caeser sic in omnibus Brutus sic in at Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purdyamos Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 Brutus sic in at The chav was sick in his hat? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppins Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 At one time I could say the whole Catholic Mass in Latin, lot of good that did me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StarSparkle Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 The chav was sick in his hat? Brilliant, Purdy, absolutely brilliant! I think everyone should know some Latin - it is a FABULOUS language, in it's own right and for understanding all the other Romance languages, and languages in general. And it sounds gorgeous and mellifluous, like Italian. I learnt Latin at school at the time I fancied a career in Archaeology - before I discovered what hard work digging for a living is... On holiday in Italy, I found I could understand a lot of Italian - I've never learnt any Italian in my life, but my knowledge of Latin carried me through. I imagine it would be the same with Spanish and Portuguese. And suddenly, you realise you can understand a lot of obscure words in English as well - it's obvious they come from a Latin root. It expands your English vocabulary tremendously. Now if I managed to learn a bit of Greek, the rest of the English language would be opened up to me StarSparkle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slimsid2000 Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 At one time I could say the whole Catholic Mass in Latin, lot of good that did me. They should make you Pope Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StarSparkle Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 Some of us learn Latin so we can read Virgil! Arma virumque cano... (Sorry, I was a Literature major.) I agree with your point, though: If you know even a little Latin, you can work out the meanings, spellings and pronunciation of so many words in English and other languages. It's like a magical key that unlocks doors to greater knowledge. Plus, it's fun to whip out some Latin words and phrases to impress friends and colleagues now and then. Tempus fugit. Carpe diem. Modus operandi. Etc. Veni, vidi, veci et al You are SO right about Latin being like a magical key StarSparkle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StarSparkle Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 Have you been watching Frankie Howerd again? StarSparkle PS That was aimed at a comment of SlimSid's - but it seems to have vanished??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maggi Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 Latin is a language as dead as dead can be, it killed off all the Romans - now it's killing me! Was written in MY excersise book If you'd also had "I David Cassidy"[1], we could be the same person! Did they have a dog called Bruno, or am I confusing it with the French course? Cerberus was the dog. There was Timmy in the Famous Five, but I don't remember a Bruno. Sorry. Like HappyHippy, I was fortunate to have a good teacher. She was fortunate to have the good materials(CLP above) to work with - it was a really nicely structured course. And, coincidentally, she was Greek. Now if I managed to learn a bit of Greek, the rest of the English language would be opened up to me You just reminded me of a favourite quote "Television? The word is half Greek, half Latin. No good can come of it." - CP Scott So, to the topic... Oh, I haven't actually got a point to add that hasn't already been made. What's the Latin word for that? [1] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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