Sunday, October 12, 2008

Bringing Latin Back?

Maureen Dowd get the winning paragraph for the day.
Also, a little note re: her columns. It's not her content with which I generally tend to agree but rather her form. I find her to be the most linguistically aware columnist of mainstream media hence the ubiquity of her references here.


Now regarding her latest column, whether you are a Latin lover and connoisseur or not, you are bound to have at least a small reaction to it.

As far as I'm concerned, bene, Dowd, bene!

Can anybody translate this for us:

"Gubernatrix (prope Russia) Palina, spectans candidaciam MMXII, post multam educationem cum Kissingro et post multam parodiam de Sabbatis Nocte Vivo atque de Tina Feia, ferociter vituperat Obamam, ut supralupocidit (aerial shooting of wolves) in Hyperborea.

Vilmingtoni, in Ohionem, McCain’s Mean Girl (Ferox Puella) defendit se gladiatricem politicam esse: “Pauci dicant, O Jupiter, te negativam esse. Non, negativa non sum, sed verissima.” Talk about lipsticka in porcam! Quasi Leeus Atwater de oppugnatione Busii Primi ad Dukakem: “non negativus, sed comparativus.”

Read it all here.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I like this a lot! "Are We Rome? Tu Betchus!"

Anonymous said...

I like this a lot! "Are We Rome? Tu Betchus!"

Anonymous said...

This is too gripping. Good Sunday reading for sure. thx

Anonymous said...

Ferox puella?
Oh man!
Too good.

Anonymous said...

Ferox puella?
Oh man!
Too good.

Anonymous said...

I bet Latin Profs will dig this. Still laughing..... thx.

Unknown said...

oh, the last one was me....

Sra said...

Makes me regret dropping my second semester Latin class back in college. Maybe I'll dig out Wheelock's and give it another go.

Sra said...

Since you like Maureen Dowd, I thought you'd like to know that there's a free podcast from her at the UC Berkeley iTunes store. Go here to access the store, and then under Events click on the Journalism & Media link, and it's the first one in the list.

B.R. said...

Thx, Sra. Will try to give it a listen. Her writing style is 'knapp genug' to keep me interested.