Richard Dewsbery wrote:
> Although most English speakers, and I'm talking about the natives here,
> have a limited vocabulary. 10,000 words or greater is "well-educated,"
> most of the peasants have a vocab of about 3,000 words, and on the
> factory shop floor cou can get by for weeks only speaking 4-500.
> Remember, for all the variety of adverbs / adjectives available, the
> ones used most by the proles are of the four-letter variety.
>
> The lack of real education in the UK makes me wonder about GWs latin
> mottos littered throughout the 40k universe - given that the subject is
> taught in only a tiny number of schools now.
At the risk of being thought a Boring Old F*rt, I think that Latin
should still be taught widely. Firstly, it's very useful in learning any
Romance Languages (and, for this purpose, English is a Romance
Language). Secondly, it's essential if you're into Biology. The
Genus/Species names become gobbledegook otherwise.
And thirdly, it enables you to write banners such as "Ave Imperator,
Morituri Te Salutant", "Mors Longa, Vita Brevis", "Per Scutum Et Ignis
Ad Astra", "Timor Mortis Conturbantur"
Of course, knowing that Video is "To see" in Latin, Audio is "To hear"
Et Cetera is also useful.
BTW No good can come of Television. "Tele" is "far" in ancient Greek, so
it's a bastardisation. Phonos is sound in greek, so TelePhone is fine.
--
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Received on Tue Jun 24 1997 - 05:32:19 UTC
