Latin Learning Daily

 Next time you go to your fridge to get a snack you can think about how wonderful Latin is. Frigidus is an adjective and it’s comparison is positive. It’s in the first declension and is nominative in case. It’s number is singular and lastly it’s gender is masculine.

 Here is a prime example of how Latin and Greek interact with each other in the Roman psyche. Deus is of Latin origin whereas Theo of Greek.  The use of the “A” at the beginning of the word designates that [a person] is without God.  in English it would translate to Atheist.

 “Eheu fugaces labuntur anni”  “Alas, the fleeting years slip by” Can you believe it is already 2021? Whatever happened to 89BC? How true this is.  One interesting thing this quote demonstrates is the use of the interjection “Eheu” which didn’t exactly translate to alas. Eheu is more like an exclamation of grief, pain, or fear.

There is a lot of utility to learning Latin. Utilitas in Latin means usefulness or advantage or utility in English.  

“In virtute sunt multi ascensus.”  “In Virtue there are many degrees in excellence.” This is a great Latin quote, but it could also just be the same as one’s mom saying “your standards of cleaning the bathroom are not as high as mine.” I think we’ve pretty much all heard a version of that growing up.  In any event, there are levels of excellence and we can always strive to do and be better.   

 Some words in Latin are the same as in English. “Clamor” is one of these words. “Clamor” is a great noise or commotion. In elder days however, the connotation would have been quite a bit different than it it now. Today when we think of the word Clamor we think of  pot and pans falling, but in antiquity it would have meant the clamor of war. It would have been the crash of metal weapons and the bellows of horses. Some older books and translations of ancient works translates clamor in that way.