Why Latin (and Greek) Is Really an Engineering Course

Why Hello Milo, It is good to hear from you,

I sent Moose a little post and of course copied you. I find your efforts at creating an interesting little "da-ly use dictionary" concerning the multiple uses of cute little words to be both educational and "hu-mor-us". Thanks for that little "tid bit" of wisdom.

I am pleased to report to you that we are making real progress that is being supported by actual proof of performance with increases in fuel mileage on eight over the road semi trucks, and just as soon as I put the finishing touches on multiple electrode assemblies that will all be exact copies of each other, and of course intended to eliminate the undesirable problems that we have been able to discover through analizing our and other's efforts. We of course recognize that Science demands that this matter regarding stated performance be verified by independant sources, so we will be making our findings available when we have secured the perfected data.

I'll keep "you-all" posted

Toomuchfun

Where can I get one of those "ice cream cones" and can I choose multi-ple flavors.

Tmf

It seems that your inventory policy "that is in stock , out of stock" seems to fall a little short, "as in old stock, short of stock, and lets not forget stock on order, and back ordered stock and most important of all deleted stock.

Does this remind you of the definition of the word Quan-tum.

Maybe what you say isn't what you mean to say or what you expect me to think you are saying. SAY WHAT!!!!

Tmf

TMF, the most important inventory status can be determined by remembering the term FISH. Not FIFO (first in first out) nor Lifo, (Last in First out) but FISH- First In Still Here It smells!

milo

This brings back fond memories of Latin class, Milo! Thanks for posting this in The Y Files.

- Moose

Hello Moose,

MY MOTHER MADE ME DO IT!

It was the ninth grade and mom determined that if I was to ever be successful in life I would have to take and pass Latin. I hated the course with a passion. And when I realized that the language was dead as the Cyclops, I hated it even more. I remember the text book well, Latin and the Romans! I cheerfully began forgetting all that I knew about Latin the very next year when I began Spanish I. The Romans had problems with their spelling and the Spanish didn't seem th know how to put their words in the correct order.

TMF

Hello Moose/Milo and others,

It brings back a fond memory to me also. "It was back in the mid seventies, when the trumped up gas shortage was dropped on us and most of the nation was plunged into depression as the result."

Here in sunny booming Florida there was no work available for those plying a living from the construction industry. After a two years of struggling I found work in Texas. "I was in route back to Florida for a visit with my family, and traveling with a caravan of others that just grouped themselves together through our CB connections, as we chirped along amusing ourselves. We were traveling across the elevated roadway that traveled through the area that is now a part of Lake Ponchatrain. We never imagined there would be such a long way across and we were all nearly" out gased," and burning up the airway looking for a way off this parkway to find some gas. It was just after 12:45 AM when a funny sounding voice spoke out in broken english, made a remark about a near by mile marker and said that the next exit beyond was not much farther than that, and stated that we needed to turn right and go 2 miles and turn right again, and we would see a gasoline refill at the local country store. (this was near Slydel, La.). Quantum relief and whole sale jibbering across the CB channel 19 enveloped that portion of the parkway.

After paying for my gas before I was to gas up, I asked the young man at the register just how far, in hours, was it the Florida State line. He answered me in some strange language that reminded me of my ninth grade Latin course. I politely thanked him wander on out to fill up my gas tank. A kindly looking elderly black fellow, was getting" regassed "at the pump next to me. We were all tired. As he was standing beside me when I paid for the gas, I was sure that he must have heard my question to the young man at the register. I asked him what the young man had said as I didn't understand his language. The elderly man replied that he had been living around that part of Louisiana for most of his life, and never really understood those folks. I could hardly understand the elderly fellow as he spoke a language that seemed to be a combination of Spanish, French, maybe some native American, a little of the Kings English, smothered with a generous helping of Dixie. I was able to determine that he was saying something about the Cajuns and a Byou and that he never could understand much of what they said either. I determined then an there that I was just as well off not being able to speak Cajun as Latin, because nobody would be able understand me either.

TMF

Hi Milo,

"Ne te confundant illegitimi"

Spencer.

Hi Scapolie!

I hadn't seen the confundant version of this quote. Very cool.

As it turns out illigitimi is'nt the right word... we'll have to change our plaque!

The Latin word for bastard is actually nothus (from the Greek word notho (νόθο) meaning not-pure (used when referring to a bastard whose father is known) or spurius (for a bastard whose father is unknown).

My last boss had the "illigitimi non carborundum" phrase engraved and on his desk like a nameplate!

This version won't get points off from your Latin teacher:

Noli nothis permittere te terere.

But its meaning is much harder to fathom than the illigitimi version.

Thanks for the reply.

milo

Hi Milo, Here is my family motto;- "Fortiter et celeriter"

This has been our motto since before the battle of Agincourt.

Spencer.

Braver and faster? Thats cool.

milo

An interesting exercise in taxonomy (Latin: taxon, name)! We biologists have to learn sufficient Latin (and some Greek) to study taxonomy (the naming of flora [Latin: plants] and fauna [Latin: animals]). Plus anatomical structures of both.

Biologists would be hard pressed to work with out Latin and Greek.

one of the funny ones I heard of that vein was the canary islands. It sounds like thats where there are canaries, right? Supposedly they are named for the dogs Canis found there...

milo

An interesting exercise in taxonomy (Latin: taxon, name)!

Actually, taxonomy is Greek (taxis: order, nomos:law). So taxonomy means "method of ordering".

Generally, medical/anatomical terminology is mainly of Greek origin, while scientific plant and animal names are mostly Latin. Engineering terminology is less Greek or Latin, however, we use in on everyday practice words like, electrism, architecture, topography, geology, dynamic, analysis, synthesis, static, problem, ... and the list goes on.

Also stems like hydro-, meta-, para-, kata- anti-, apo- or suffixes -ic, -logy, -graphy, are very frequently used in engineering (and not only)

You can check these sites too:

http://members.lycos.co.uk/petridis/wordsgr.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Latin_and_Greek_words_commonly_used_in_systematic_names

Check also two speeches made in a whimsical mood back in 1957 and 1959 by Xenophon Zolotas, a prominent Greek economist, addressing the International Monetary Fund ("Panethnic Numismatic Thesaurus" as he calls it!) . It's not exactly English or Greek, but it's fun reading!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenophon_Zolotas

Hillbilly Latin: "...et tu, Brutus?"...to which Brutus replies: "...nope, I only et wun!"

I didn't do Latin

Del the felis domesticus

There was clearly a "Quantum failure of a meeting of the minds" between our Latin Teacher and most of my classmates. The vast majority were graded with EEEE's and FFFF's for the Latin experience. However they all seemed to do well dancing the mashed potatoes, hand jive, the twist, the locomotion, stroll, monkey and especially the "Monster Mash"!

Tmf