(no subject)

[rm]

About 80% of what I know about how to speak and write in a manner that is stirring and/or convincing, I learned from Latin.

Which is why this is so ridiculously rad:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/opinion/12dowd.html

Comments

[threewalls]

That is fantastic.

[darthhellokitty.livejournal.com]

I'm absolutely delighted - I still have enough of my college Latin to get most of it! Thanks for pointing it out!

[stef-tm.livejournal.com]

I took Latin in high school (3 years) and it's had a profound influence on me (despite the fact that I take data and crunch numbers for a living.)

A man on my lj f-list played online poker to send his son to Exeter and then Harvard. His son is studying Greek and Latin. My poor friend who was a stock broker before poker/semi-retirement find this bittersweet - proud that his son has the intellect and stamina but not thrilled about career possibilities.

I believe languages (like math, my favorite language) allow one to learn logic and critical thinking. I'm sure his son will be very successful.

edited due to typing FAIL

[lorem_ipsum]

Despite knowing only a very little Latin, I found that hilarious.

[contrarywise]

*snerk* That's awesome! And I agree, fine rhetorical material from ancient Greece and Rome still provides good examples for those of us who would speak or write persuasively and well.

[(Anonymous)]

That is pretty awesome. It makes me want to brush up on my latin.

I went into college thinking that I might be a classics major until I met the head of the department who was a complete ass. I realized that as much as much as I loved the language I mostly just loved my highschool latin professor, a crazy old Welshman with a degree from Oxford who would walk into class singing "I'm a lumberjack and I'm okay!"

[marchek.livejournal.com]

Um, yeah that was me. I didn't realize [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com] logged me off of lj.

[6-bleen-7.livejournal.com]

I don't know any Latin, apart what has soaked in by diffusion, but I could still understand enough to ROTFL. (It appeared in the Cleveland daily this morning.)