- Hardcover: 102 pages
- Publisher: HarperCollins; Reprint edition (22 Oct 1993)
- ISBN-10: 000255383X
- ISBN-13: 978-0002553834
- Product Dimensions: 19.8 x 13.4 x 2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 244,299 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Latin for All Occasions
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Product Description
Product Description
Designed to guide the reader through the use of Latin, this book includes everyday English expressions rendered into grammatically accurate, idiomatically correct, classical Latin, with an easy-to-use pronunciation guide included. The phrases are organized into conversational categories.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From the Back Cover
'Was I speaking Latin again?'
'Denuone Latine loquebar?'
'Silly me. Sometimes it just sort of slips out.'
'Me ineptum. Interdum modo elabitur.'
Who says Latin is a dead language? Certainly not any former altar boys, public schoolboy, or any girl who ever dreamed of being Audrey Hepburn in 'A Nun's Story'. The Roman mass may be a thing of the past, but Latin's never been livelier – thanks to Henry Beard, former prisoner of the classics and best-selling author of 'Sailing: A Sailor's Dictionary' and 'Miss Piggy's Guide to Life'. He's come up with an essential tool to vindicate anyone who's ever winged it through mass or struggled with the ablative. Here, in one handy, easy-to-use volume are hundreds of everyday English expressions rendered into grammatically accurate, idiomatically correct classical Latin – with a complete, easy-to-use pronunciation guide. And all of these practical phrases are conventionally organized into familiar conversational categories, so that you can be confident that in any social situation some suitable Latin 'bona dicta' (bon mots) will be right at your fingertips.
'Latin for all Occasions' gives you the perfect phrase for every contemporary situation, from starting a relationship ('Frequentasne hunc locum?' 'Do you come here often?') to classic movie quotes ('Fac ut gaudeam!' 'Make my day!') through bumper stickers, personal ads, sports terms, answering machine messages, cocktail party chitchat, and much, much more.
The next time you feel like using the immortal language of Caesar, Cicero, Virgil, and Horace to turn an ordinary remark into a timeless utterance, don't let 'feles, felis, feli, felem, fele' (the cat) get your tongue. Just pull out a copy of 'Latin for all Occasions'.
'Bona fortuna!' (Good luck!)
Henry Beard spent eight harrowing years studying Latin. After cofounding the English-language periodical 'National Lampoon' and writing a number of books in English, including 'Sailing: A Sailor's Dictionary' and 'Miss Piggy's Guide to Life', he is happy finally to have an opportunity to make some use of his knowledge of a language that really hasn't been all that helpful over the years, except for the time he suddenly realized that the thing he was about to order from the menu of a restaurant in Rome looked an awful lot like the Latin word for 'eel'. Mr. Beard resides in Novi Eboraci (New York).
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This wonderful little book was presented to me many years ago after I had completed a Latin seminar. It was a wonderful gift, and I have found much use for the various phrases, and an extraordinary amount of humour that can be derived from the blandest of statements when translated into Latin. For example, the innocuous phrase 'Darn! There goes my beeper!' becomes quite funny in Latin:
Heu! Tintinnuntius meus sonat!
One has visions of Caesar fumbling through his tunic for some beeping object.
So, if you need a little Latin on the golf course (Alterum ictum faciam); on the tennis court (minime latum!), at the beach when spotting a shark (Pistrix! Pistrix!), or you just need to say Illud Latine dici non potest (you can't say that in Latin), you'll be prepared with this volume.
It even comes with a section on what to say when at the Vatican (where it might truly come in handy). For instance you might need to say 'Ubi possum potiri petasi similis isti?' when passing a cardinal or nun (translation: Where can I get a hat like that?).
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This wonderful little book was presented to me many years ago after I had completed a Latin seminar. It was a wonderful gift, and I have found much use for the various phrases, and an extraordinary amount of humour that can be derived from the blandest of statements when translated into Latin. For example, the innocuous phrase 'Darn! There goes my beeper!' becomes quite funny in Latin:
Heu! Tintinnuntius meus sonat!
One has visions of Caesar fumbling through his tunic for some beeping object.
So, if you need a little Latin on the golf course (Alterum ictum faciam); on the tennis court (minime latum!), at the beach when spotting a shark (Pistrix! Pistrix!), or you just need to say Illud Latine dici non potest (you can't say that in Latin), you'll be prepared with this volume.
It even comes with a section on what to say when at the Vatican (where it might truly come in handy). For instance you might need to say 'Ubi possum potiri petasi similis isti?' when passing a cardinal or nun (translation: Where can I get a hat like that?).
So, don't waste your time on watching reruns of Insula Gilliganis or game shows such as Periculum and Rota Fortunae -- pick up this book today, and merge the worlds past and present.
Die dulci fruere. (Have a nice day.)
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Latin for all occasion is a great humour book even if you don’t care about Latin. The book attempts to give you the ability to converse in Latin in every aspect of everyday life. For example, you want to have an affair? Cut a deal? Tell someone their fly is open (as the title of this review does) you can do so in Latin. The humour in this book comes, not so much from the Latin itself but rather the English phrases H Beard decides is necessary for everyday life. From WASP country clubs to family reunions, pretentious Restaurants or finding cheez wiz at the supermarket, you can do it in Latin! It is perfect for a quick read and is consistently funny and unique. The perfect gift or coffee table book to show off at parties (plus now you can tell you guests all about it in Latin!).
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A great gift for the Latinist in your life
Someone gave me this as a present and I have to admit I was initially dismayed as I looked at it... but a couple of days later I love it to bits. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Roman Clodia
Bene bene...
This wonderful little book was presented to me many years ago after I had completed a Latin seminar. Read more
Published on 22 Nov 2005 by Kurt Messick
Latin, for very few occasions
Very good use of white space, meaning there is more white space than anything else. Not to be used if you're looking for useful latin phrases, or at all really; you can find all of... Read more
Published on 20 Oct 2003
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