BETTER LIVING THROUGH LATIN

In looking at the link in yesterday's post, I noticed MORE and different Latin words in the colorful seal of Canada (around the outside), so this morning I had to look them up, and lo, ANOTHER great motto, DESIDERANTES MELIOREM PATRIAM, this time from the Order of Canada, with more information here. This new motto is useful for reminding students that a first declension noun (patria, -ae f. homeland, fatherland) can be modified by a third-declension adjective (melior, melius, gen. melioris, better), but the endings must agree (case, number, gender), not rhyme. This motto also reminds students that melior is the irregular comparative form of bonus, a, um good, and gives everyone a chance to learn or review the English derivative ameliorate, to make better.

The present participle, desiderantes, is also of interest to teachers of a certain age who remember listening to a top-40 hit by Les Crane called Desiderata when they were in junior high school. The verb desidero (1) I desire, long for is the source for both verb forms; to revisit that history click here.