On Track with Vulcan

We still love this Roman god of fire, Vulcan. He continues to surface in technological arenas of all kinds, and I will continue to write about him. Today's entry is a ridiculously limited edition Aston Martin track-only automobile; only twenty-four will be made. As I look at the lines, the facets, the details, I cannot envision the god Vulcan behind the wheel, but I do believe he would be proud of the lines/engineering.

MOXIE Redivivus

Redivivus is a Latin adjective that means "living again, renewed, renovated."  In the last century or earlier, Moxie was a brand-name for a soft drink originally made in Maine, and it is still available in certain areas of the world. The soft drink was so widely advertised that the name became a noun in common use to stand for "vigor, pep, boldness, courage, nerve."

MOXIE is a new acronym used by Nasa to simplify the name of an instrument that will be deployed on the Mars 2020 mission. MOXIE stands for Mars Oxygen ISRU (in situ resource utilization) Experiment. The Latin phrase in situ means "on site, on location" from the noun situs, sitūs m. "site, location" and the preposition in meaning "in/on." Once you read about the job of the MOXIE, you will agree that Nasa is making a bold plan into the future.

Winged Victory

In the mall earlier today I saw this store window and had to take a picture. Nike is advertising its running shoe named for Pegasus, the famous winged horse of Greco-Roman mythology. How appropriate a classical sighting, combining a mythological flying horse with the Greek goddess of victory, on this weekend when American Pharoah, winner of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, will try for the Triple Crown at Belmont Park. Here is a little more information about Nike Pegasus.

I Can, Too

Driving back to school today I saw a license plate with this message: I-CANTU. In Latin the word cantus, cantūs m. means "song," and in the ablative singular form, cantū, it means "by, with, or from a song." So could this license plate mean "I (exist) (because of/by) song"? Or perhaps "I (am) with song"? Or possibly "#1: by song"? More likely: "I can, too"! But I do wonder what it is I can do, don't you?

The Latin verb canō, canere, cecinī, cantum means "I sing," and it is one of the opening words of Vergil's great epic poem, the Aeneid. The poem begins, "Arma virumque canō: I sing of arms and a man/hero." In English from this Latin verb we have the words canticle, a song or hymn and cantor, a religious official who sings or chants prayers in a synagogue.

Probably only the author of the license plate knows the truth, but I can try, too.

Seize the territory!

What can Latin do for you? This article came my way, and I was happy to read (again) about the benefits of studying Latin. I am also interested in the company name, Capterra. It looks like a word formed from two Latin roots, cap (from capiō, capere, cēpī, captum I take) and terra (from terra, ae f. land) yielding a possible meaning of "Take the land!" When you read the name out loud, however, you may hear "Cap'terra," a word that could suggest "Capture!" This company may wish to capture your business!

Swimming Through Forgotten New York

A few days ago I saw a truck advertising a business located on Nereid Avenue in the Bronx, NY. Alas, I no longer recall the business, because I was trying to make myself remember to research how Nereid Avenue in the Bronx received its name. A charming website called Forgotten New York tells it all:

East of the Bronx River Parkway, the road has yet another name: Nereid Avenue (the correct pronunciation is NEER-ee-id: the MTA gets it wrong on its taped station announcements). A nereid is a minor Greek water nymph; while some Bronxites believe the street was named for an N.E. Reid, it was actually named for a local fire company. Since firehouses and pumping wagons used a lot of water, they all had water-associated names, like Oceanus, Neptune, etc. This is the only street that recollects the old Bronx fire companies. Compare Coney Island’s numerous “water” names like Surf, Brightwater, Seabreeze et al. By the way, nereids had two legs: only the mermaids and mermen, which were not in Greek myths, had tails. 

Nereid caught my interest, because a nereid in Greek mythology is a sea-nymph, a child of Nereus. When you encounter the word nereid, it is almost always in a context having to do with swimming, water sports, or some kind of watery environment, as in the Bronx. Here in New York it is still so cold and snowy that any nereids have certainly fled to warmer waters.

Wintry Mix

Winter storm Neptune blew through the northeastern part of the United States yesterday. Here in Westchester county, New York, we received an inch or two of new snow, and the wind continues to blow. As I drove around town running errands, I spied an unlikely sight and had a camera with me, so observe the name of the boat located in a store parking lot. No doubt Old Man Winter is having a chuckle today.

Neptune is the Roman name for the god of the sea, and Poseidon is his Greek equivalent.