LOL! Yup, kill it dead, stuff and mount it, and stick it in a museum.
Or the Vatican. Latin in spoken (and heard) in countless churches daily, and uber-counless churches on Sunday. Not to mention bio-sciences still use Latin names. Not so much a dead language, then, as a zombie one!
Don't be so sure about that. When I first landed in Finland I used to have a radio alarm clock wake me up with some news in English from the national radio channel. When the English news had finished they would announce "And now the news in classical latin". And so it was, news in latin for 15 minutes. I have not checked for a while but I believe this is still happening.
Then when I went to a dentist, I knew no Finnish at all, her English was good but she got stuck describing a dental problem in English so it came out in latin. OK, no problem, I know hardly any latin but it was enough.
to misuse a common phrase, the exception proves the rule. in this case, its not an exception, its an example of the rule. neither you, the doc, or the radio gimick speak latin, but you can use it since its stable, as with scientific names. boy is this off topic? i should get back to work.
That's a bit hard. I think it was there because there are/were so many students studying Latin in Helsinki university. Or so I gather from a linguistic lecturer friend of mine. Round here it is common for people to speak three languages so why not another just for fun. Besides Latin has has lived on in so much of the English we speak today.
When I first came to Taiwan, British English annoyed and frustrated me. But after 18 years, I have begun to rather enjoy it. One might even say I learned something. Just don't tell the British.
I read "The Economist" every week. And I now see that Newsweek is going to become only web based. I'd actually feel sad if "The Economist" did the same.
Translation: I get gloriously sick on the transit line every Monday.
Close enough!
Though more seriously, what's neat about Latin is that it greatly expands the vocab to more highfalutin words, as so much of English came from Latin. Even without having to know Latin sentence structure, you can get the meaning:
sic = thus
transit = travel or passage
gloria = glory
mundi = earth or world
Sic the reason you want to take Latin in high school, if you're so lucky to have it offered to you.
Sic the reason you want to take Latin in high school, if you're so lucky to have it offered to you.
'Did that. 'Hated it. It's the only course I ever got a D in -- well, other than gymnastics, that is. Yet, although I derived no pleasure from reading Cicero, it did prove useful for understanding the roots of certain words in modern languages.
My only D in high school and junior high school was Typing. It wasn't until I wanted to learn to finger pick a guitar that I discovered that touch typing might be useful.
You just about have to go to a Catholic high school to learn Latin in the USA.
Comments
-Phil
Or the Vatican. Latin in spoken (and heard) in countless churches daily, and uber-counless churches on Sunday. Not to mention bio-sciences still use Latin names. Not so much a dead language, then, as a zombie one!
-- Gordon
to misuse a common phrase, the exception proves the rule. in this case, its not an exception, its an example of the rule. neither you, the doc, or the radio gimick speak latin, but you can use it since its stable, as with scientific names. boy is this off topic? i should get back to work.
Because learning it will eat your brains??
That's a bit hard. I think it was there because there are/were so many students studying Latin in Helsinki university. Or so I gather from a linguistic lecturer friend of mine. Round here it is common for people to speak three languages so why not another just for fun. Besides Latin has has lived on in so much of the English we speak today.
Translation: I get gloriously sick on the transit line every Monday.
I read "The Economist" every week. And I now see that Newsweek is going to become only web based. I'd actually feel sad if "The Economist" did the same.
Close enough!
Though more seriously, what's neat about Latin is that it greatly expands the vocab to more highfalutin words, as so much of English came from Latin. Even without having to know Latin sentence structure, you can get the meaning:
sic = thus
transit = travel or passage
gloria = glory
mundi = earth or world
Sic the reason you want to take Latin in high school, if you're so lucky to have it offered to you.
-- Gordon
-Phil
You just about have to go to a Catholic high school to learn Latin in the USA.