At one time, Latin and Ancient Greek were considered classical languages that every educated person was supposed to be familiar with. In recent years, they have both largely fallen into popular disuse, except in a few specialized professions, e.g., medicine, law, archeology, and theology. That said, Latin is still with us in many ways, not only in the roots of many, many English words, but also in its original form, in terms most of us have at least heard, even if we don't always understand them clearly.
In this week’s post, Ms. Picky tackles a few modern and ancient myths and legends that have nothing to do with the gods or heroic feats of most Roman myths and legends . . . and then talks about Latin words and phrases that are still commonly used in English today.
Latin Myths and Legends
Myth: Once, when he was about to make an official tour, former vice-president Dan Quayle was famously quoted as apologizing for not speaking the language of the region he was visiting. The joke was that he was in Latin America—and apologizing that he didn’t speak Latin.
Truth: Dan Quayle was never quite so dumb as people made him out to be—he never actually made the remark. The entire story was a myth.
Myth: Latin was the only language spoken in Ancient Rome.
Truth: For many years, Greek was the language spoken by the educated and elite in Ancient Rome.
Myth: The term “romance language” is used to refer to French, Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese, because they are romantic languages.
Truth: The word “romance” refers only to their being derived from the principal language of the Ancient Romans—Latin—and not to anything related to lovemaking or tender emotions.
Myth: Nero fiddled while Rome burned.
Truth: According to most modern historians, not only was Nero out of town that weekend, but, when he heard about the fire, he rushed back to Rome to organize relief efforts. Oh, well.
Latin Words and Phrases Used in English Today
A.D. (Anno Domini). Literally, “the year of Our Lord,” meaning that the date with which the initials are used is after the birth of Jesus Christ.
A.M. (Ante meridian). Literally, “before noon.”(And “P.M.,” or “post meridian,” means “after noon.”)
Carpe diem. Literally, “pluck the day,” quoting a phrase from a Latin poem by Horace, popularly translated as “seize the day,” and meaning to enjoy, seize, use, or make use of the present; a caution not to waste time, that time is precious, etc.
Caveat emptor. “Let the buyer beware,” or “sold as is.”
Circa. Literally, “around,” meaning approximately (often abbreviated as “c.” or “ca.”), generally used to indicate an approximate date for a historic event or a work of art.
De facto. Literally, “in fact,” meaning “in reality.” (Example: The country had never held a general presidential election, but the generalissimo was their de facto leader.)
Ex libris. Literally, “from the books,” meaning “from the library of” (the inscription denoting ownership, which is often seen on a bookplate pasted on the first recto endpaper of a book).
Ex post facto. Literally, “after the deed,” meaning retroactively.
In vino veritas. Literally, “In wine, there is truth,” meaning that, after having had a few drinks, people are more inclined to utter the truth than when they are sober.
Mea culpa. Literally, “my fault,” used formally or facetiously to indicate one’s own guilt.
Non compos mentis. Literally, “not having command of mind,” meaning not of sound mind.
Persona non grata. Literally, “an unwelcome person,” used to indicate, in diplomatic language, a sovereign nation’s proscription against a particular person’s entering its borders.
Prima facie. Literally, “at first face,” meaning at first glance, or on the face of it.
Quid pro quo. Literally, “something for something,” meaning “if you get something, you must give something,” or a more or less equal exchange of goods and/or services.
Requiem. Literally, “rest,” or repose, generally used in the sense of “eternal rest,” referring to a dirge, or a religious service, for someone who has died. (The initials “RIP” stand for “Requiescat in Pace,” which is Latin for “May he (or she) rest in peace.” [Requiescat is a verb related to the noun requiem.]
Sine nobilis (shortened to “snob”). Literally, “without nobility,” meaning someone who is ostentatious about his refinement, or a pretentious person. (The opposite would be nobilis, or “nob,” meaning someone who exhibits or possesses true nobility.)
Sine qua non. Literally, “without which, not,” meaning a thing’s essential ingredient, without which the thing cannot be itself.
SPQR. Literally, “the Senate and the Roman People” (Senatus Populus RomanQue), referring to the government of the ancient Roman republic. (Like many other travelers, Ms. Picky was rather taken aback, upon her first trip to Rome, to notice these historic initials on manhole covers all over the streets of Rome. She read, upon returning home, that it was Mussolini who had ordered that not only manhole covers, but also all civic buildings display this reminder of the city’s historic importance.)
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Bulletin Board
For W.H., Re Homonyms, Homophones, and Homographs:
In reference to last week’s post, “The Main Course and the Desserts,” W.H. asks Ms. Picky if she is perhaps confusing the term “homonym” with the term “homophone.”
Although Ms. Picky is extremely meticulous about these things, she is (despite popular opinion to the contrary) not perfect, and so she took it upon herself to double-check what she had written in her post against her vast collection of reference books (oh, all right—against Google). The result? Ms. Picky is happy to inform her anxious readers that (at least on this occasion) she was indeed perfectly, pickily correct.
For W.H., then, here is a brief summary of the subject. (If any readers don’t share W.H.’s fascination with these arcane matters, and their eyes are beginning to glaze over, they might want to tune out here. Those who are interested are welcome to continue.)
The prefixes and roots of the words homonym, homophone, and homograph are all from the Greek:
—Homo means “the same,”
—Nym means “name,”
—Phone means “sound,” and
—Graph means “writing.”
Homonym [literally, “the same name”]: Refers to words that sound alike and are spelled alike, but have different meanings.
Examples: Stalk [of asparagus] and stalk [to follow someone].
Homophones [literally, “the same sound”]: Refers to words that sound alike, but have different spellings and/or meanings.
Examples: Anti- and ante-, their and there, rose [the flower] and rose [got up].
Homograph [literally, “the same writing”]: Refers to words that are spelled alike, may or may not sound alike, but have different meanings.
Examples:
—“Row” (as in “row the boat” [pronounced roh]),
—“Row” (as “they had a big row,” meaning an argument [pronounced rau]), and
—“Row” (as in a planted line of crops, a “row” of corn [pronounced roh]).
Ms. Picky asks that W.H. reread last week’s post. The phrase “a pair of homophones” was used to refer to “ante-” and “anti-,” and those two prefixes do indeed sound the same, but have different spellings, and are therefore correctly referred to as homophones.
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*The title of this post was taken from the poem “To Helen,” by Edgar Allan Poe.
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2 comments:
this begs a few questions, like why DO they call it a "romance language"? and is it "a" historic or "an" historic (same goes for homage)? is "prima facie" pronounced "fay-cee" or "fa-chee"? i've always thought the former, then heard the latter on law and order yesterday.
great posting today! loved the information!
To Anonymous:
Thank you for your compliments, and, my, don't you have a lot of questions!
Here are your answers:
First of all, it’s funny that you use the expression “begging the question,” because, as it happens, Ms. Picky did a post on Begging the Question, on Dec. 1, which you might want to read.
Next, the term “romance language” has as its root “roman,” referring to romance languages’ having been derived from Latin.
Re the correct indefinite article to be used with “historic”: The choice of “a” or “an” is determined by phonetic, not grammatical, rules. It is significant more in spoken than written language, because the whole point of using “an” is to remove the momentary pause some people must take between one word that ends with a vowel sound and another word that begins with a vowel sound. It’s largely a matter of dialect. If you, like Ms. Picky, have no problem using the indefinite article “a” instead of “an” before “historic” or “hotel,” then either your regional dialect or the physiognomy of your lips, palate, and tongue is not troubled by having to pause in between article and noun, and you may say “a hotel.” Other people might find it difficult to pronounce “a hotel” witout pausing in between, and so they should go with “an hotel.”
Re the pronunciation of Latin words: Since Latin is a dead language and we have no digital recordings of Julius Caesar’s conversations or speeches, the “correct” pronunciation is whatever we want it to be—but not quite. The correct pronunciation is the pronunciation used by the people who use the expression most; they define the standard for the rest of us. In the case of “prima facie,” since the word is used mostly in the legal professions, where it is pronounced FAY-chee, that has become the correct pronunciation.
—Ms. Picky
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