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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
Deja vu, 23 Dec 2005
After Beard's first book, 'Latin for All Occasions', one might say this book is a case of deja vu, or prius visum, as the Latin would have it.Who said Latin wasn't useful? Henry Beard, in this volume and its predecessor, demonstrates that it is very useful, and not just for identifying a dish on a menu in Rome that looks suspiciously like the Latin word for 'eel'. This volume begins on a fun note: French sounds even better in Latin: Savoir faire = Scire facere
Nouveau riche = Novissime locupletatus
Merde! = Merda! From there we proceed to philosophy: Cogito, ergo sum
Sum, ergo edo.
Cogito sumere potum alterum.
(I think, therefore I am. I am, therefore I eat. I think I'll have another drink.) And lest we forget, the memorable Latin phrase for use at a toga party: Toga! Toga! Toga!
(memorise this, for it will be on the test) There are things in this volume for sports fans, pop culture fans, those about to celebrate and those who want to be casual. If you want to sound intelligent while saying you think you've just spotted Elvis in the crowd, this book can tell you how to bring up the subject intelligently. If Caesar had had this book, he might have rephrased his famous utterance as Veni, vidi, nates calce concidi! (I came, I saw, I kicked butt!). Divinissimum est! Proving once again, some people have far too much time on their hands. And we are more fortunate for that!
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