Or perhaps that should be "Vae!"
There I was, giggling away at my last post title and nobody even asked me what it meant.
Is there not a Latin scholar or a Cartesian amongst you?
Where's the fun in being a pretentious twat if nobody gets it?
Well actually, I'm pretty certain Peanhen would get it but then she'd moan that I'm being "Too Radio 4".
Hey ho.
In case you were wondering (and I know you weren't), it doesn't mean "I am Groucho" … That would be "Ego sum Groucho", not "Groucho, Ergo Sum" and wouldn't be funny in the least.
It's from Descartes: "Cogito, Ergo Sum".
"I think, therefore I am."
Duh!
Anyhoo; since my Latin dictionary doesn't have a translation for "grouchy", I used the same route, from Latin via French that "cogito/cogitate - from the plain verb form cogitum" took and made up the new regular Latin verb: "grouchum" - to grouch/to be grouchy.
Ergo: First person singular, present tense: "Groucho".
See? Latin is not a dead language; it's still evolving. "Grouchum" is now in the public domain.
"Groucho, Ergo Sum" - "I grouch, therefore I am".
Well, I thought it was pretty funny for a grouchy post title.
I blame the dumbing down of television.
Throw that fucker out of the window and go buy a book.
Vae, vae, vae!
18 comments:
Ahem. A contrario: Just because we didn't comment doesn't mean we didn't know, Dive. lol!
Hee hee. I had a feeling you would, Lynn. An Englishwoman and wordsmith who didn't know her Latin would be weird.
Were we supposed to ask? Oops. Next time I will. Gosh, I lived and breathed all the -isms that ever existed while at uni.
Who can ever forget Descartes??? Who next - Aristotle, Plato, Socrates? :) Personally, I was impressed by Kant.
So how are you today anyway? Apart from being grumpy coz that's a given.
joy
A Pinay in England
Your Love Coach
The Goddess In You
Norwich Daily Photo
I'm happy because I'm working from home and the sun is shining and it's warm enough to have my windows open so the breeze is blowing through.
My only problem today is the shadows of the tree branches that keep blowing across my monitor.
Naaah … I'm grumpy really. Hee hee.
I only have a little knowledge, Dive, but the more in love with words you are, the more you discover about Latin and vice-versa.
Amo amas amat... pah! it's gone...
Crikey, old son. I feel dreadfully remiss, not to have caught on to the Latin.
All I can remember in latin, is Post Coitum Omne Animale Triste Est.
It seems that my teenage years were coitus-ly interrupted by the examination of this phrase, but my headmaster preferred to teach us about, In Hoc Signo Vinces.
Both were likened to variations on the tasting of lasagne from the many regions of Italy. I can still remember the taste to this day.
This must be why Italians live to eat.... anything !!!
Viva Italia.
Robyn: You so do (to use an American phrase).
Lynn: Indeed! And a love of words is a wonderful thing to have.
Monsier B: Hee hee hee!
And viva Italian cuisine!
Working from home? Sweet!
My brain is still frozen. I'm staring at these bids and the words are swimming before my eyes.
That's why I decided to take a break and pay you another visit :)
Enjoying cherries anyway. I wish they'd produce seedless cherries.
12 years of catholic school & 4 years of latin...i got your joke, sugar! silly me, i assumed you'd know your readers would! xx
(have i told you how much i adore you?)
Wow! Dive has an all-girl fan club! Hehe.
Are you blushing yet?
joy
A Pinay in England
Your Love Coach
The Goddess In You
Norwich Daily Photo
Joy: Unfreeze your brain with a nice green tea. That's what I'm doing.
And an all girl fan club? Hey, I can live with that. Hee hee.
Savannah: Mea culpa, you adorable Catholic schoolgirl. I should have known my blogpals are all smartyboots.
xx
It was funny when the nuns (I attended a Catholic girl school from Prep to senior high) made us say prayers in Latin! :D Why??? Surely God's a polyglot.
And yeah - all the sugar, and the honey, and the darling and the you're adorable! :D
Wow! Savannah AND Joy! I wonder how many other Catholic schoolgirls are hiding in Blogville?
I thought about asking...but didn't want to subject myself to your scorn.
I spend all my time studying electrolytes, therefore I don't know what the fuck you're talking about.
How do you say that in Latin?
Lulu: My scorn is reserved for folk without such great hair.
T: "Quod".
hee hee
As a young man, did you ever wonder what the Catholic school girls did when the nuns weren't watching? Hehe.
We had a Catholic girls' school just down the road, so we knew full well what they got up to.
And the girls certainly lived up to their reputation!
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