Greetings,

Last week's Latin quiz (translate the names of these popular groups: Mortui Grati, Simiatores, Pueri Litoris) showed how well you've been absorbing your 'lessons' - I had the first correct answer by return mail!

Most people managed to get the first two correct - it was the Beach Boys who caused a few furrowed brows.

I like Michelle's thought processes here as she tried to work out Pueri Litoris:

"I can't think of anything like Litoris. So my guess would be ______ Kids,
or maybe "Beastie Boys"?

I used to take French, which would suggest something along the lines of
"bed," but I don't know off-hand of any such bands. (Sleeping...?) (On
the other hand, if it had two t's, I'd guess "The Lettermen," or else
something evoking sand and coral, after the word littoral. But, there's
only one t, so I'd not make such a leap.)

Another guess I could've made is another recent band called the Backstreet
Boys. I don't really see "street" in there, though; I'd think there'd be a
"via" or "route" or something in there somewhere.

This is a fun puzzle, though! Etymological Gordian knots...."

Michelle did come up with the Beach Boys in her next email.

And Kimberly was definitely on the right track:

"Pueri Litoris - The Sex Pistols--ha! ha! ha! Boyz2Men? Pauly Shore??"

Donna, too, was close:

"It's Grateful Dead
The Monkees
Kids in the Hall"

What all these illustrate is how useful Latin is when it comes to working out the meaning of unfamiliar words.

Everyone recognised that PUER had something to do with 'boys' - because of our English word 'puerile' (immature, childish, boy-like). The LITORIS confused some - but think of similar English words - Michelle's guess at 'littoral' was right. The littoral zone is that coastal area between high and low tide, and 'littoral' means the shore. (Kimberly's "Pauly Shore" was really clever!)

If you come across an unfamiliar word, just try to recall all the words you know that use some of the letters e.g. 'polyandry' isn't a word you come across every day. But think of other words that have the prefix 'poly-' polygon, polytechnic, polymer, polyhedron, polyglot. What do all these words have in common?

They all mean "many" - a polygon has many sides; a polytechnic is a school that teaches many technical subjects; polymer is a compound formed from many similar molecules; a polyhedron is a solid figure with many (more than six) sides and polyglot means speaking or writing in many languages.

So, now you know that 'polyandry' has something to do with 'many' - but many what?

-andry is the next part of the puzzle ... some English words like this are: androgenous - a biological (and botanical) term, meaning producing male offspring (or stamens) only; android - a robot in human (usually male) form; and the name Andrew (and Androcles) from 'manly' ... put them together and you get "many men."

The next thing is to look at the word in its context - "While polygamy has been widely practiced in human social groups, polyandry has been less popular."

You know that 'polygamy' means having more than one wife ... so 'polyandry' must mean having more than one man or husband.

It doesn't matter whether the words are derived from Latin, Greek (as the above examples), Old French or any one of the many other languages we've borrowed from - the process is the same: work from the familiar bits to the unfamiliar and then test your conclusion in the context being used.

This week, I'd like to introduce you to one of our members - Adji. We've been corresponding for several months now and Adji has agreed to share his story with everyone here in order to provide what he and his wife, Minou, refer to as a 'map of life' for others who share the grief of losing a child.

Adji's life story makes fascinating reading - as a child he travelled the world with his diplomat father. He then worked as a journalist for Reuters in London, at Lloyd's insurance, then the French national news agency, Agence France-Press in Paris, and the foreign headquarters of the Antara Indonesian national news agency in Koln beginning in the mid '60s - all as an English language journalist.

But at the same time Adji was also a field operative. As he writes, it was "very secret, but it's okay to reveal it now because the 30-year time limit has passed. This position was dramatized in James Bond films - and was like in the James Bond films, except that I didn't kill anyone or blow up anything."

Adji and Minou lost their younger son, Cyrus, just over twelve months ago and have set up their 'map of life' site because, as Adji writes, "both Minou and I owe our sanity after our son's passing away to complete strangers who describe their experiences in webpages, in books and articles about losing their child - especially a child who is no longer a child, but a friend, an adult of 25 years.

"This in turn gave us the strength not to go through with throwing away our lives. Because of their road maps, our own experiences were guided by their experiences. My web pages are meant to return the favour by providing our own "road map" for others who may need it."

~ * ~

Let's stay with the Latin for a bit longer - see if you can give a couple of English words derived from the following Latin - they must have a similar meaning and should utilise some (but not necessarily, all) of the root word:

e.g. ambulo (I walk) - ambulance, amble, perambulator [pram], somnambulist. Note how all of these English words have something to do with the original meaning of 'walk.' The ambulance was originally a litter carried by bearers - who walked! A somnambulist walks in his sleep; the pram is pushed along by someone walking.

1. Bellum (war) -

2. culpa (a fault) -

3. fugio (I flee) -

4. loquor (I speak) -

5. ruptus (to break) -

6. stinguo (I mark) -

7. tentus (to hold) -

8. unda (a wave) -

9. versus (to turn) -

10.voro (I devour) -

Pair these words with a synonym in the list below:

Poignant, enigmatic, pernicious, emancipation, derogatory, reticent, impecunious, circumspect, insidious, vehement

1. passionate - VEHEMENT

2. cautious - CIRCUMSPECT

3. painful - POIGNANT

4. puzzling - ENIGMATIC

5. treacherous - INSIDIOUS

6. liberation - EMANCIPATION

7. disparaging - DEROGATORY

8. taciturn - RETICENT

9. poor - IMPECUNIOUS

10.harmful - PERNICIOUS

Too true!

This week's Latin phrase is a bumper sticker that's guaranteed to sort the men from the boys (and the women from the girls!):

Si hoc adfixm in obice legere potes, et liberaliter educatus et nimis propinquus ades. (If you can read this bumper sticker, you are both very well educated and much too close.)

Regards,

Jennifer

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