Important questions

When studying Latin WAY back in High School we recited a little poem,
that I am sure goes much farther back.
"Latin is dead
As dead as dead can be
First it killed the Romans
Now its killing me"

Quod Felix Faustum Que Sit

"Jud" wrote in message
...
When studying Latin WAY back in High School we recited a little poem,
that I am sure goes much farther back.
"Latin is dead
As dead as dead can be
First it killed the Romans
Now its killing me"

Quod Felix Faustum Que Sit

We were always told in school that by learning Latin we could readily
adapt to learning other romance languages. Not only were we clueless as to
why they were called "romance" languages, but most of us decided we could
eliminate the middleman and instead take a language that we could actually
use to communicate with our friends' immigrant parents, like French,
Portuguese, or Italian. Soon after I graduated, Latin was dropped from the
curriculum like a useless Studebaker, what with only a few aspiring
pharmacists and priests choosing Latin as their language of choice. I took
French although most of my friends were of Italian and Portuguese descent.
Made sense to me.

"Bruce Remick" wrote in message
...

"Jud" wrote in message
...
When studying Latin WAY back in High School we recited a little
poem,
that I am sure goes much farther back.
"Latin is dead
As dead as dead can be
First it killed the Romans
Now its killing me"

Quod Felix Faustum Que Sit

We were always told in school that by learning Latin we could
readily adapt to learning other romance languages. Not only were we
clueless as to why they were called "romance" languages, but most of
us decided we could eliminate the middleman and instead take a
language that we could actually use to communicate with our friends'
immigrant parents, like French, Portuguese, or Italian. Soon after
I graduated, Latin was dropped from the curriculum like a useless
Studebaker, what with only a few aspiring pharmacists and priests
choosing Latin as their language of choice. I took French although
most of my friends were of Italian and Portuguese descent. Made
sense to me.

When I was choosing which language to start with in high school, some
advisor told us that Latin was useful for doctors and lawyers. Since
he was a priest he had his own bias, but that ended the discussion for
my parents, Latin it was. I didn't go into law or medicine (or the
priesthood) but years later I realized that Latin gave me the
foundation for more than half of modern English, 2 years of French
showed me how that language evolves over time and distance, and 2
years of German filled in the other side of the family tree for
English. Short of becoming a linguist, it was the best route to
acquiring a working command of our language.

Italians were everywhere. But where do you find a Portuguese enclave?

mazorj wrote:
"Bruce Remick" wrote in message
...

"Jud" wrote in message
...
When studying Latin WAY back in High School we recited a little
poem,
that I am sure goes much farther back.
"Latin is dead
As dead as dead can be
First it killed the Romans
Now its killing me"

Quod Felix Faustum Que Sit

We were always told in school that by learning Latin we could
readily adapt to learning other romance languages. Not only were we
clueless as to why they were called "romance" languages, but most of
us decided we could eliminate the middleman and instead take a
language that we could actually use to communicate with our friends'
immigrant parents, like French, Portuguese, or Italian. Soon after
I graduated, Latin was dropped from the curriculum like a useless
Studebaker, what with only a few aspiring pharmacists and priests
choosing Latin as their language of choice. I took French although
most of my friends were of Italian and Portuguese descent. Made
sense to me.

When I was choosing which language to start with in high school, some
advisor told us that Latin was useful for doctors and lawyers. Since
he was a priest he had his own bias, but that ended the discussion for
my parents, Latin it was. I didn't go into law or medicine (or the
priesthood) but years later I realized that Latin gave me the
foundation for more than half of modern English, 2 years of French
showed me how that language evolves over time and distance, and 2
years of German filled in the other side of the family tree for
English. Short of becoming a linguist, it was the best route to
acquiring a working command of our language.

Italians were everywhere. But where do you find a Portuguese enclave?

Newark NJ.

James

"mazorj" wrote in message
...

"Bruce Remick" wrote in message
...

"Jud" wrote in message
...
When studying Latin WAY back in High School we recited a little poem,
that I am sure goes much farther back.
"Latin is dead
As dead as dead can be
First it killed the Romans
Now its killing me"

Quod Felix Faustum Que Sit

We were always told in school that by learning Latin we could readily
adapt to learning other romance languages. Not only were we clueless as
to why they were called "romance" languages, but most of us decided we
could eliminate the middleman and instead take a language that we could
actually use to communicate with our friends' immigrant parents, like
French, Portuguese, or Italian. Soon after I graduated, Latin was
dropped from the curriculum like a useless Studebaker, what with only a
few aspiring pharmacists and priests choosing Latin as their language of
choice. I took French although most of my friends were of Italian and
Portuguese descent. Made sense to me.

When I was choosing which language to start with in high school, some
advisor told us that Latin was useful for doctors and lawyers. Since he
was a priest he had his own bias, but that ended the discussion for my
parents, Latin it was. I didn't go into law or medicine (or the
priesthood) but years later I realized that Latin gave me the foundation
for more than half of modern English, 2 years of French showed me how that
language evolves over time and distance, and 2 years of German filled in
the other side of the family tree for English. Short of becoming a
linguist, it was the best route to acquiring a working command of our
language.

Italians were everywhere. But where do you find a Portuguese enclave?


Ah, Rhode Island and Eastern Massachusetts had, and still have, large
Portuguese populations. Originally they were immigrant fishermen who
settled in and around New Bedford and Fall River, MA and raised their
families. It once seemed to me that half of the Cape Verde Islanders must
have come to America and settled in this area. Back in Rhode Island, when
many ethnic groups once maintained their own neighborhood "_____-American
society" social facility, I'll bet there were more Cape Verdean Society bars
in the Providence area than Italian-, Irish-, or German-American bars (er,
Societies) combined. And that didn't even include separate
Portuguese-American Societies. Today, I hear the Italian and Portuguese
dominence there is being challenged by an increasing Vietnamese and other
Asian population.

"Bruce Remick" wrote in message
...

"mazorj" wrote in message
...

"Bruce Remick" wrote in message
...

"Jud" wrote in message
...
When studying Latin WAY back in High School we recited a little
poem,
that I am sure goes much farther back.
"Latin is dead
As dead as dead can be
First it killed the Romans
Now its killing me"

Quod Felix Faustum Que Sit

We were always told in school that by learning Latin we could
readily adapt to learning other romance languages. Not only were
we clueless as to why they were called "romance" languages, but
most of us decided we could eliminate the middleman and instead
take a language that we could actually use to communicate with our
friends' immigrant parents, like French, Portuguese, or Italian.
Soon after I graduated, Latin was dropped from the curriculum like
a useless Studebaker, what with only a few aspiring pharmacists
and priests choosing Latin as their language of choice. I took
French although most of my friends were of Italian and Portuguese
descent. Made sense to me.

When I was choosing which language to start with in high school,
some advisor told us that Latin was useful for doctors and lawyers.
Since he was a priest he had his own bias, but that ended the
discussion for my parents, Latin it was. I didn't go into law or
medicine (or the priesthood) but years later I realized that Latin
gave me the foundation for more than half of modern English, 2
years of French showed me how that language evolves over time and
distance, and 2 years of German filled in the other side of the
family tree for English. Short of becoming a linguist, it was the
best route to acquiring a working command of our language.

Italians were everywhere. But where do you find a Portuguese
enclave?

Ah, Rhode Island and Eastern Massachusetts had, and still have,
large Portuguese populations. Originally they were immigrant
fishermen who settled in and around New Bedford and Fall River, MA
and raised their families. It once seemed to me that half of the
Cape Verde Islanders must have come to America and settled in this
area. Back in Rhode Island, when many ethnic groups once
maintained their own neighborhood "_____-American society" social
facility, I'll bet there were more Cape Verdean Society bars in the
Providence area than Italian-, Irish-, or German-American bars (er,
Societies) combined. And that didn't even include separate
Portuguese-American Societies. Today, I hear the Italian and
Portuguese dominence there is being challenged by an increasing
Vietnamese and other Asian population.

Thanks for the explanation, which makes sense. The NE states and
Maritime Provinces had a wide variety of fishing crewmen who "went
native" and became landlubbers. It was mostly the French and English
who did that but fleets from other maritime nations worked those
waters too. You learn something new every day.

On Sat, 10 Jan 2009 23:20:36 -0500, "Bruce Remick"
wrote:

Why has it been so easy to incorporate the year, IGWT, Liberty, and EPU
on the face of each First Spouse gold coin design, yet this apparently is
considered impractical on the presidential dollar coins? Doesn't the Mint
know by now that most collectors like to see the traditional year of issue
on the obverse of their coins, especially collectors who enjoy inserting
coins in albums? Otherwise, why bother putting dates on Mint-issued bullion
coins, if not to increase sales and interest? These questions are for the
gentleman there in the second row.

I sort of like having the mottos on the edge as it makes the design
less cluttered. IGWT is coming back to the obverse this year, but I
wonder how many supporters of getting it back on the obverse/reverse
of the Presidential Dollars knows where IGWT is located on the Cent,
Nickel, Dime and Quarter?

The year really is not necessary since the images are different, four
per year. But I do wish they had put the mint mark on either the
obverse or reverse, with my preference being the reverse, just above
the U in United.

"Jon Purkey" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 10 Jan 2009 23:20:36 -0500, "Bruce Remick"
wrote:

Why has it been so easy to incorporate the year, IGWT, Liberty, and
EPU
on the face of each First Spouse gold coin design, yet this apparently is
considered impractical on the presidential dollar coins? Doesn't the
Mint
know by now that most collectors like to see the traditional year of issue
on the obverse of their coins, especially collectors who enjoy inserting
coins in albums? Otherwise, why bother putting dates on Mint-issued
bullion
coins, if not to increase sales and interest? These questions are for the
gentleman there in the second row.

I sort of like having the mottos on the edge as it makes the design
less cluttered. IGWT is coming back to the obverse this year, but I
wonder how many supporters of getting it back on the obverse/reverse
of the Presidential Dollars knows where IGWT is located on the Cent,
Nickel, Dime and Quarter?

Along the same lines, I wonder how many people know (or care) what E
Pluribus Unum means, or why they always stick it on our coins? Unless
Parade Magazine asks it as a question on the inside cover, few may ever find
out.


The year really is not necessary since the images are different, four
per year. But I do wish they had put the mint mark on either the
obverse or reverse, with my preference being the reverse, just above
the U in United.

Wow! You're probably the first coin collector I've heard from who wouldn't
like the year to be visible on the dollar obverse. Talk about the Mint
going against 200+ years of tradition. Fifty years from now, when your eyes
get like mine and you receive your first dollar coin in change, you may
wonder what year it was minted. I agree though that it's hard to believe
they couldn't find room for a mint mark anywhere on the front or back. If
they could fit one on a half dime.......

On Mon, 12 Jan 2009 16:07:24 GMT, "mazorj" wrote:


"Bruce Remick" wrote in message
...

"Jud" wrote in message
...
When studying Latin WAY back in High School we recited a little
poem,
that I am sure goes much farther back.
"Latin is dead
As dead as dead can be
First it killed the Romans
Now its killing me"

Quod Felix Faustum Que Sit

We were always told in school that by learning Latin we could
readily adapt to learning other romance languages. Not only were we
clueless as to why they were called "romance" languages, but most of
us decided we could eliminate the middleman and instead take a
language that we could actually use to communicate with our friends'
immigrant parents, like French, Portuguese, or Italian. Soon after
I graduated, Latin was dropped from the curriculum like a useless
Studebaker, what with only a few aspiring pharmacists and priests
choosing Latin as their language of choice. I took French although
most of my friends were of Italian and Portuguese descent. Made
sense to me.

When I was choosing which language to start with in high school, some
advisor told us that Latin was useful for doctors and lawyers. Since
he was a priest he had his own bias, but that ended the discussion for
my parents, Latin it was. I didn't go into law or medicine (or the
priesthood) but years later I realized that Latin gave me the
foundation for more than half of modern English, 2 years of French
showed me how that language evolves over time and distance, and 2
years of German filled in the other side of the family tree for
English. Short of becoming a linguist, it was the best route to
acquiring a working command of our language.

Italians were everywhere. But where do you find a Portuguese enclave?

Central California. Most of them emigrated from the Azores.

take care,
Scott

mazorj wrote:
"Mr. Jaggers" lugburzman[at]yahoo[dot]com wrote in message
...
mazorj wrote:

...
Personally, I liked the Roman numeral dating on gold bullion coins.
I
wouldn't want it on circulating coins but it was a nice distinctive
touch with a touch of class for a classic design. Of course, that
may
just be the 4-year Latin scholar in me talking, so caveat signator.

Isn't there a club out East whose members meet just to speak Latin?
Are you a member?

I wouldn't be a member of any club that would have me as a member.

Roman numerals are not very well understood by The Average Bear,
which is why they were used in movie credits, I'm told.

Mmm, even Wikipedia pondered that and couldn't come up with an
authoritative answer. One contributor suggested the "hard to read"
rationale but I think another was closer to the truth. It's a
legalistic tradition lost in the murky depths of time. "We do it that
way because we've always done it that way."

As for me, a 3-year Latin scholar, my Latin has deteriorated
something fierce. The lazy Latin motto "Illegitimi non Carborundum"
is still a big deal to my way of thinking, though. Gaudeamus
igitur!

Iacobus

And as the bewildering array of odd and marginally interesting
collectibles shows, it's still true that "De gustibus non est
disputandum."

Or, as they say in the Sunny Land of France, «A chacun son goût»

Jacques