The young woman who checked out my purchases at Agway earlier this afternoon was wearing a bright yellow sweatshirt with the seal of the University of Rochester, whose one-word motto is MELIORA. One of my favorite English derivatives from a Latin word, ameliorate, comes from this Latin word, meliora, which means better things or, as the university translates, ever better. When you ameliorate something, you make it better in some way. Earlier I had written about the motto of Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, CT: moniti meliora sequamur (having been warned, let us follow better things).
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Beautiful Music
Watching reruns of Pawn Stars on the History Channel last night, I was delighted to learn about musical boxes made by Kalliope Musikwerke in the late nineteenth century. Searching today online for more information about Kalliope Musikwerke, I found instead lots of videos of Kalliope music boxes in action as well as, as often happens on the internet, the equally delightful discovery that many nineteenth-century music boxes have Latin tradenames, including Mira (amazing), Stella (star), and Regina (queen). You can hear how beautiful the sounds of a music box are here. Kalliope, we spell Calliope in English, is the German (and Greek) spelling of the name of the muse of epic poetry, one of the nine daughters of the Titan Mnemosyne, goddess of memory, and Zeus. The name comes from two Greek words, kalos, beautiful, and ops, voice; if you were going to sing an epic poem like the Iliad or the Odyssey, you would need a beautiful voice. Other English words that contain the root kal- include calligraphy (beautiful writing), calisthenics (beautiful strength), and kaleidoscope (beautiful image seeing). In addition the word calliope, spelled with a lower-case c, is a festive musical instrument, a steam or pipe organ heard at merry-go-rounds or on riverboats. You can hear the Delta Queen's calliope here.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Flying Horses
In the automotive section of this past Sunday's edition of the New York Times, I read a review of the Hyundai Equus, because, of course, I was attracted by the name of the car. The reviewer was puzzled by the logo of the Equus, because he thought the logo was a bird. When I showed the logo (via my new SmartBoard) to my Latin 3 class on Monday, one clever student remarked that the logo is actually Pegasus, the mythological flying horse. Upon closer inspection and when I squinted my eyes, I, too, thought that Pegasus is what the Hyundai designers had in mind. You also may ponder the Equus logo here. For lots of information about Pegasus, his origin and adventures, check the article found here.
Stronger Through Loyalty
The Atlas Football Club just entered my world as I searched for the Latin motto FORTIUS QUO FIDELIUS. I read in the Sunday (3/13/2011) edition (sports section) of the Sunday Republican newspaper from Waterbury, CT that A.J. Burnett, a pitcher for the New York Yankees has a Latin tattoo on his pitching arm, and I serendipitously came across another classical allusion online. The Atlas Football Club in England has such a cute logo that I could not resist making mention of it.
Wired for Sound
At a dulcimer festival in Latham, New York on Saturday, 5 March, I was amused to make a classical connection as I was waiting for the open-microphone afternoon concert to begin. The sound folks were setting up multiple microphones and attaching them to the sound board and amplifiers through a box that was sitting on the stage. I walked up to investigate and laughed when I noticed that the brand name on the piece of equipment was the Whirlwind MEDUSA.You can check out the Whirlwind company and see some examples of the Medusa snake here. In this age of so many wireless devices, it is interesting to see a fully wired one that recalls the ancient world. Medusa was a mortal Gorgon, once a beautiful woman, who was greatly transformed as a result of offending the goddess Athena. In her final incarnation Medusa is most famous for having snakes instead of hair on her head and for being so ugly that she turns anything that looks at her into stone. The hero Perseus slays her and cuts off her head. From drops of her blood the winged horse Pegasus is said to have sprung. More about Pegasus soon.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Those Finnish Schools
The June 2010 issue of The Finnish American Reporter had an interesting article, first in a series on traditions and customs of milestone events in Finland, called "Graduation day 'caps' a student's academic career." As many people probably know, Finnish is a non-Romance language, but many Finns themselves love Latin. I was interested to read the sidebar attached to the article on the basics of baccalaureate. To quote the sidebar: "The grades are –from top to bottom—laudatur (L), which can be given to only 5 percent of students; eximia cum laude approbatur (E); magna cum laude approbatur (M); cum laude approbatur (C); lubenter approbatur (B); approbatur (A); and improbatur (I), which indicates you didn't pass the exam."
How interesting are those grades! Not being familiar with baccalaureate in all its various forms, including the International Baccalaureate (IB) program, which can be found in some US schools, I was interested in the levels and descriptions. A quick dash through the internet leads me to conclude that this system is mostly used in Finland. I like the distinctions that are made: (L): he/she is praised; (E): he/she is approved with excellent praise; (M): he/she is approved with great praise; (C): he/she is approved with praise; (B): he/she is approved gladly; ( A): he/she is approved; and (I) he/she is not approved/rejected. Of course, the verb could be interpreted impersonally to indicate that the exam paper is accepted or rejected. Just another interesting instance of ongoing Latin in the wide world.
How interesting are those grades! Not being familiar with baccalaureate in all its various forms, including the International Baccalaureate (IB) program, which can be found in some US schools, I was interested in the levels and descriptions. A quick dash through the internet leads me to conclude that this system is mostly used in Finland. I like the distinctions that are made: (L): he/she is praised; (E): he/she is approved with excellent praise; (M): he/she is approved with great praise; (C): he/she is approved with praise; (B): he/she is approved gladly; ( A): he/she is approved; and (I) he/she is not approved/rejected. Of course, the verb could be interpreted impersonally to indicate that the exam paper is accepted or rejected. Just another interesting instance of ongoing Latin in the wide world.
Friday, June 11, 2010
In the stream of traffic
Well, you can't make this stuff up. On Friday afternoon, May 28th, as I drove along a back road on my way to beautiful Dutchess county, New York, I stopped behind a Lexus carrying two kayaks on its roof. I saw that the one on the right was an Acadia, but the one on the left was called a Dirigo. As I sit at my trusty computer looking into Dirigo kayaks, I discover that there is a model called a Dirigo Tandem, and as I continue to search around for information I find another kayak model called a Pungo, and then a wooden canoe model called a Molitor. On the same page as the Molitor, my ever-wandering eye spied an ad for a company called ExOfficio Clothing-Footwear-Gear, and when I clicked on this ad, I found an ad for Give-N-Go underwear which is treated with Aegis Microbe Shield. Wow! These adventure-outdoor outfitters are some Latin and Greek aficionados!
Dirigo is the motto of the great state of Maine, home of the manufacturer of Dirigo kayaks. In Latin dīrigō (3) means (literally) I rule in different directions, or simply, I direct. As the easternmost state, Maine receives the early morning sun first, and so in a way Maine "directs" the nation. Applied to kayaks dīrigō is a fitting name. Tandem applied to vehicles usually means a two-seater or a double-tractor-trailer; tandem in Latin means "at last, finally," which looks as if it derives from tam so + īdem, eadem, idem the same, or the same amount again.
Pungo also is a good name for a kayak, as the sharply pointed bow of the boat punches through the water; pungō (3) means I prick, sting, pierce. The past participle is punctus, a, um whence English puncture and punctuation, the latter of which is a constant sting to proofreaders the world around.
Molitor is a fabulous name for a canoe, and the photograph of the Molitor model that I saw online shows a beautiful and cleverly constructed boat. In Latin a mōlītor, mōlītōris m. builder derives from the verb mōlior, mōlīrī, mōlītus sum I labor at, work, build, devise.
Ex officio is a Latin phrase meaning from one's duty or position, so that a person who sits on a board ex officio is present as a result of the position he/she holds. But as the name of a clothing-footwear-gear provider, the phrase also could be interpreted to mean "out of the office," as in, let's get out of here and go climb a mountain, shoot some rapids, or camp out under the stars. Finally Aegis as a brand name is a mythological reference to the breastplate of the goddess Athena/Minerva, probably originating in a goatskin, but offering strong protection to the wearer/bearer.
I almost fear to go back to my researches, because I really do need to get my day started! But I am delighted to find so many classical allusions in the world of the adventurers.
Dirigo is the motto of the great state of Maine, home of the manufacturer of Dirigo kayaks. In Latin dīrigō (3) means (literally) I rule in different directions, or simply, I direct. As the easternmost state, Maine receives the early morning sun first, and so in a way Maine "directs" the nation. Applied to kayaks dīrigō is a fitting name. Tandem applied to vehicles usually means a two-seater or a double-tractor-trailer; tandem in Latin means "at last, finally," which looks as if it derives from tam so + īdem, eadem, idem the same, or the same amount again.
Pungo also is a good name for a kayak, as the sharply pointed bow of the boat punches through the water; pungō (3) means I prick, sting, pierce. The past participle is punctus, a, um whence English puncture and punctuation, the latter of which is a constant sting to proofreaders the world around.
Molitor is a fabulous name for a canoe, and the photograph of the Molitor model that I saw online shows a beautiful and cleverly constructed boat. In Latin a mōlītor, mōlītōris m. builder derives from the verb mōlior, mōlīrī, mōlītus sum I labor at, work, build, devise.
Ex officio is a Latin phrase meaning from one's duty or position, so that a person who sits on a board ex officio is present as a result of the position he/she holds. But as the name of a clothing-footwear-gear provider, the phrase also could be interpreted to mean "out of the office," as in, let's get out of here and go climb a mountain, shoot some rapids, or camp out under the stars. Finally Aegis as a brand name is a mythological reference to the breastplate of the goddess Athena/Minerva, probably originating in a goatskin, but offering strong protection to the wearer/bearer.
I almost fear to go back to my researches, because I really do need to get my day started! But I am delighted to find so many classical allusions in the world of the adventurers.
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