A Smattering of Latin

A Smattering of Latin
Author: Simon James
Publisher: Portico
Total Pages: 143
Release: 2016-10-01
Genre: Humor
ISBN: 1911042645

This fun, absorbing book, packed with quirky bite-sized lists, quizzes and trivia, is an exploration of the Latin language, aiming to prove that it is as vibrant and relevant today as it was 2,500 years ago. It includes sections on Latin in the movies, US state mottoes and place names, and also some choice snippets from real Latin poetry from Catullus, Horace and Virgil, with evocative translations. It contains a fascinating section on the Roman emperors and what they got up to, and gives the basics of the language itself for anyone who would like to learn it. Quizzes allow the reader to guess the names of famous books, songs and James Bond films, cunningly translated into Latin. From the spells in Harry Potter to the use of Latin in Asterix, to the Latin terms that litter law and medicine to the meaning behind UK football club mottoes, this book is the perfect gift for anyone who wants to brush up their Latin, whether they studied it at school or not.

Subject Catalog

Subject Catalog
Author: Library of Congress
Publisher:
Total Pages: 632
Release: 1965
Genre: Catalogs, Subject
ISBN:

Thingamajigs and Whatchamacallits

Thingamajigs and Whatchamacallits
Author: Rod L. Evans Ph.D.
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 211
Release: 2011-06-07
Genre: Reference
ISBN: 1101515929

Have you been guilty of catachresis* at work? Have you defenestrated* your dictionary in frustration? Do you have phloem bundles* stuck in your diastema*? Scratching your occiput* now? Rod L. Evans's Thingamajigs and Whatchamacallits will help take the mystery out of some of our most obscure words. Containing hundreds of words from agitron (the phenomenon of wiggly lines in comic strips indicating that something is shaking) to zarf (the holder for a paper cone coffee cup), this lively reference will enable you to easily locate your thingamajig or whatchamacallit, be it animal, vegetable, mineral, or punctuation mark. Leave no linguistic oddity unexamined-your brain will thank you. *catachresis: strained, paradoxical, or incorrect use of a word; *defenestrate: to throw out a window; *phloem bundles: stringy bits between the skin and the edible parts of a banana; *diastema: the gap between teeth in a jaw; *occiput: the back part of the head or skull