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Posts: 696
Apr 22 12 8:21 AM
Posts: 6089
Apr 22 12 9:03 AM
Fairly Regular For His Age
"... unless of course you thinking yourself superior is more important to you than reliably, clearly communicating an idea." sear
"As usual, my error appears to lie in over estimating the intelligence of my audience." ST
Apr 22 12 10:12 AM
Apr 22 12 10:38 AM
Posts: 8944
Apr 22 12 10:57 AM
Sceptical Observer
However, even ignoring the monumental clue of the post which it followed, the simple phrase damnatio memoriae ought to be readily understandable by anyone who speaks English and has a modicum of intelligence, something I presumed was a prerequisite in order to participate in a serious debate forum.
Apr 22 12 5:21 PM
"Cicero was wrong:" ST
"As usual, my error appears to lie in over estimating the intelligence of my audience." ST "I have not confused stupidity and ignorance" ST
"Latin is probably near the bottom of my list of languages to learn before I die." JS
Posts: 17967
Apr 22 12 6:06 PM
Custodian of Castle Anthrax
When someone speaks three languages, they are called trilingual. When someone speaks only two languages, they are called bilingual. So, if a person speaks only one language, what are they called? An American. _ TS.
"Why can't those foreign people learn to speak more better English when they come here" _ Actual quote from a 'Native born American' union worker for the big 3 Auto.
It's all very well to run around saying regulation is bad, get the government off our backs, etc. Of course our lives are regulated. When you come to a stop sign, you stop; if you want to go fishing, you get a license; if you want to shoot ducks, you can shoot only three ducks. The alternative is dead bodies at the intersection, no fish, and no ducks. OK?Molly Ivins -1944 - 2007
Apr 22 12 6:12 PM
"the phrase 'Je Ne se Pa français' works marvels when you also say " PM
"I always ask 'Can you speak that persons language?" PM
Apr 22 12 6:21 PM
PM, I've been to Paris a few times. I tried my high school French on them, but they got snooty about my accent, so I mainly stuck with English. The irony of that is my HS French teacher was a Frenchman, and much of his classes focused on reading and pronunciation.
Apr 22 12 6:30 PM
"I learned conversational Italian in Italy in the 70's." PM
"Pimslers" PM
Apr 23 12 2:29 AM
Apr 23 12 3:40 AM
As I previously mentioned and Sear so rightly observed, our "fairly well evolved language" is only that way because it has borrowed so much from Latin and Greek (among others).
How times have changed. Not so very long ago it would be assumed that educated men would have a certain amount of Latin and Greek (and for anyone considering a scientific subject they are still always beneficial since so much technical terminology is rooted in them) as a given; nowadays it seems Latin is reserved for use as a military unit's motto and amusing mock-Latin proverbs that bounce round the internet.
Apr 23 12 5:07 AM
"should English speakers also have a rudimentary knowledge of all those other languages? Or is Latin a special case? John"
"A prudent question is one half of wisdom." William James
"It's like the old cliche "the question is only easy if you know the answer"." JS
Apr 23 12 11:17 AM
Apr 23 12 11:51 AM
Apr 23 12 11:53 AM
And of course that comes from the fact that in "conspiring" you would be 'together, often huddled or secreted away from authorities.
The one problem that most of us have with Latin, is the fact that it is not 'Context' Sensitive necessarily, i.e. the who doing what were, can be end up "where the who is doing what", "What the who is doing where", "doing what by who where" all end up saying the same thing regardless of the Verb - noun positions.
The reason that "Latin" is a dead Language is not because it is not spoken or in use, but because it 'does not dynamically change' according to the speaker, or the time. It has been so well 'agreed upon' that 'everyone' knows it and it is pretty common. In other words very few 'new words or ideas are introduced' as compared to English in which the word count grows almost daily.
A side note is that Latin is now becoming the 'lingua Franca' of diplomats, much like French was for some time. It is doing so, because it hasn't the baggage that comes when two people use another common tongue E.g. Farsi, where a word may mean something to one person, but is rude or insulting to another, e.g. "Ignorant". When two people have to stop and think about a word, they tend to take it at face value, rather than assume the other person meant to be insulting, rude or derogatory.
but the translation "ad infernum cum" sounds like a link to a "hot porn" web site. LOL.
Apr 23 12 12:14 PM
"The one problem that most of us have with Latin, is the fact that it is not 'Context' Sensitive necessarily, i.e. the who doing what were, can be end up "where the who is doing what", "What the who is doing where", "doing what by who where" all end up saying the same thing regardless of the Verb - noun positions." PM
"dead Language is not because it is not spoken or in use, but because it 'does not dynamically change" PM
Apr 23 12 5:20 PM
I actually think I know what you mean. BUT! I have no idea what those words mean.
Apr 24 12 8:28 AM
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