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The Death Of Latin – CBS News — I’m now convinced there is something in the water over there.
A couple of thousand years ago we British were invaded by some extremely civilized conquerors – the Romans. They built our roads, our cities – like Londinium, and left us – after several hundred years – with a rich sense of culture and a great deal of their own language. In fact using Latin phrases is still the, er, ‘status quo’. There are hundreds of, er, ‘bona fide’ English sayings which owe everything to Julius Caesar and his legions.
But now the use of Latin is to be banned – on the orders of England’s most interfering busybodies, our local town councils. And that’s an irony because the very word council was first coined by the Romans.
I have, er, ‘prima facie’ evidence. Bournemouth, a sleepy place on the English south coast, has just issued orders to stop all staff using any popular Latin. So now they are forced to say ‘impromptu’, when they actually mean ‘ad lib’, and it’s a permanent ban – not just ‘pro tem’. Now, the, er, ‘quid pro quo’ for this draconian new rule is supposed to be that everyone will be able to understand everbody else without any risk of confusion in future.
But lovers of Latin regard the ruling as the linguistic equivalent of ethnic cleansing. It is they say, stark staring bonkers, etcetera, etcetera — except they mustn’t ever say ‘etcetera’ because that particular phrase actually started life in ancient Rome.
Found by Mad Dog Mike.
I still haven’t tasted the water that Adam Curry is drinking.
Are they also going the ban the 50% of the entire English language that comes from Latin?
The more these Brits screw up their country, the more I think pulling their fat out of the fire in WW2 was a waste of time and money.
They still teach latin in some secondary schools here.
once again a weak and utterly pointless story.
#3:
It’s not pointless. That even a single person thinks the law can be used this way is news. Horrible, depressing, absurd news.
Gotta give points to Monty Python:
Reg: All right, but apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, a fresh water system, and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?
Okay, I was waiting for a P.S.
J/P=?
Got to make way for Arabic…..
I consider all the words used as examples to be English. The fact that they may also be latin, or originally latin is the etiology of the word, and all words have etiology. Silly to over identify/limit the usefulness of a word because of its origin.
#7 Gets the post of the week.
If George Carlin were still alive, and if he were British, he would have a fucking field day with this!
let me get this straight… Americans laughing at the British for screwing up their country?
LMFAO!!!!
get a grip on your own country before chastising another, America has become the clown nation of this world – ask ANY other country
The video clip doesn’t seem to work, it just shows two adverts and then it asks me to replay or share.
#7 – The Arabs have already arrived.
http://preview.tinyurl.com/7pt3t
#11 You’re right, we shouldn’t be giving a damn about you Brits losing your identity. That will never happen again, Number One.
Thanks for caring about the US though.
#13 precisely the point #7 made.
How the fck will doctors and lawyers be able to communicate?
This is something I have long been in favor of. Why the hell do we need Latin in our language anyway? Aren’t there English words for that specific thing or act?
As Bobbo said, the etiology of the word means absolutely nothing in modern, common day usage.
This is always what happens when you give a few people a bit of power. It happens the world over, and is not inclusive of the US or the UK. I am a US citizen, and I do care deeply about the UK. Like it or not, we’re quarrelsome relatives. I’m reminded of this every day, because a photo of Winston Churchill hangs in my study. Sir Winston was half American. The whole world is becoming paranoid and obsessed with terror. That is the goal of terrorism by the way.
Wanna see the psyche of an inane revisionist? See post #16
#16 Sorry there pal, English is built on Latin. English is classified as a Latin language. You can’t take the latin out.
Latin is in English like Water in Soup.
As Bobbo was saying, this is all patently silly. (Oops, is patent Latin, quick go check and be clean!!)
# 19 Thinker said, “#16 Sorry there pal, English is built on Latin. English is classified as a Latin language. You can’t take the latin out.”
Save it, he’s shown that he’s illiterate. If this post doesn’t seal it, nothing will.