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"in remembrance of what really happened in Tiananmen Square." That event is still remembered across the world. Recently the Register noted that "Tank man" vani

"in remembrance of what really happened in Tiananmen Square." That event is still remembered across the world. Recently the Register noted that "Tank man" vanished for a while from certain search engines but has made some re-appearances again. It may also surprise you to learn that "Cicero sic in omnibus, et Brutus aderat" (Big C puked in the bus and Brutus had a rat) I understand where you are coming from and I think the notion of: "power corrupts but absolute power corrupts absolutely" is a very, very old notion.

thaumasiotes 5y ago
> "Cicero sic in omnibus, et Brutus aderat" This would appear to mean "Cicero [was] this way in everything, and Brutus was there", which comes across as two clauses with absolutely no connection between them. On the other hand, it is comprehensible Latin, unlike "semper ubi sub ubi". Is it a quote from a real source, or was it composed purely for the sake of sounding like English when read in the British standard Latin pronunciation? ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditional_English_pronunciation_of_Latin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditional_English_pronunciat... )
- jonquark 5y ago
  See the section about "Down with skool" here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_Latin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_Latin
  - thaumasiotes 5y ago
    Hm. That original poem is much better English and, of course, completely impossible Latin. I find it interesting that what gerdesj remembered were two lines (in the wrong order) that didn't go together in the English, but which were also the only two lines that made sense as Latin.
    - gerdesj 5y ago
      That's what happens after 40 years, I'm afraid: You get your doggerel out of order and accidentally correct it. I recall those lines that my Latin teacher prefaced with something like "I can't remember the whole thing but ...". I was 10 in 1980 and he was quoting probably from his youth at school or a further 20-30 odd years before then, so I'm recalling something second hand from around 1950-1960! There were some errors. Who knows if he got the "correct" poem to start with. You should hear my rendition of the Jabberwocky. I feel quite sorry for historians.
      - thaumasiotes 5y ago
        I'm not trying to find fault! I think it says something about possible memory strategies. > I feel quite sorry for historians. Yep, this happens everywhere. Context is gradually lost to time and eventually questions just can't be resolved. Something I read that really stuck with me was a comment on some correspondence between a Mesopotamian king and a high-ranking water engineer: > His letters contain many poorly understood technical terms for weirs, sluices, dykes and the activities associated with them, so that accurate translation is impossible We know, broadly, what he was talking about, we have a huge corpus showing the vocabulary in use, and we understand the technology he was using pretty well. But we don't know exactly what he was saying, and it's vanishingly unlikely we ever will. (quote from https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16179911-the-mystery-of-the-hanging-garden-of-babylon https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16179911-the-mystery-of-... )
- Y_Y 5y ago
  Caesar adsum jam forte Brutus aderat Caesar sic in omnibus Brutus sic in at

thaumasiotes 5y ago

> "Cicero sic in omnibus, et Brutus aderat" This would appear to mean "Cicero [was] this way in everything, and Brutus was there", which comes across as two clauses with absolutely no connection between them. On the other hand, it is comprehensible Latin, unlike "semper ubi sub ubi". Is it a quote from a real source, or was it composed purely for the sake of sounding like English when read in the British standard Latin pronunciation? ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditional_English_pronunciation_of_Latin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditional_English_pronunciat... )

jonquark 5y ago
See the section about "Down with skool" here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_Latin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_Latin
- thaumasiotes 5y ago
  Hm. That original poem is much better English and, of course, completely impossible Latin. I find it interesting that what gerdesj remembered were two lines (in the wrong order) that didn't go together in the English, but which were also the only two lines that made sense as Latin.
  - gerdesj 5y ago
    That's what happens after 40 years, I'm afraid: You get your doggerel out of order and accidentally correct it. I recall those lines that my Latin teacher prefaced with something like "I can't remember the whole thing but ...". I was 10 in 1980 and he was quoting probably from his youth at school or a further 20-30 odd years before then, so I'm recalling something second hand from around 1950-1960! There were some errors. Who knows if he got the "correct" poem to start with. You should hear my rendition of the Jabberwocky. I feel quite sorry for historians.
    - thaumasiotes 5y ago
      I'm not trying to find fault! I think it says something about possible memory strategies. > I feel quite sorry for historians. Yep, this happens everywhere. Context is gradually lost to time and eventually questions just can't be resolved. Something I read that really stuck with me was a comment on some correspondence between a Mesopotamian king and a high-ranking water engineer: > His letters contain many poorly understood technical terms for weirs, sluices, dykes and the activities associated with them, so that accurate translation is impossible We know, broadly, what he was talking about, we have a huge corpus showing the vocabulary in use, and we understand the technology he was using pretty well. But we don't know exactly what he was saying, and it's vanishingly unlikely we ever will. (quote from https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16179911-the-mystery-of-the-hanging-garden-of-babylon https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16179911-the-mystery-of-... )
Y_Y 5y ago
Caesar adsum jam forte Brutus aderat Caesar sic in omnibus Brutus sic in at