And They Studied Latin! Lauralee Bell

This is an ongoing series in which I highlight public figures who can perhaps attribute a portion of their success to a background in Latin study. 

I've previously celebrated the likes of Joshua Chamberlain, Tom Hiddleston, and Boris Johnson.

As a Latin teacher and a fan of The Young and the Restless, I am happy to present the exciting news, in the week in which The Young and the Restless will air its 11,000th episode on September 1st, that none other than Lauralee Bell is a fellow Latin scholar!

Lauralee Bell portrays Christine Blair on the series, a role for which she was gained a Daytime Emmy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2016.

But before her accomplishments before the camera, Lauralee Bell attended the Latin School of Chicago, a private school focused on the classical tradition, including study of the Latin language!

Congratulations to the producers and cast of The Young and the Restless for this milestone.

As we say in Latin:

Ad Multos Annos!
To Many Years (more)!

How Do You Say a Million in Latin?

I mean, few Romans besides Crassus ever faced this issue!

Even so, it's a legitimate question I was face to face with when I needed to translate Adele's "Hello" into Latin to enter a Cover Song Contest. 

The lyrics include:

"And a million miles."

Here's how the Latin works.

A mile is mille passuum (a thousand paces).

A hundred thousand miles is centena milia passuum (a thousand paces times a hundred).

A million miles is decies centena milia passuum (a thousand paces, times a hundred, times ten).
  
The math makes my brain hurt.

If you would like to support Latin in this international Cover Song Contest, watch the video below, a Latin language version of Adele's "Hello." If you like what you hear, give me an upvote.

Gratias tibi ago!

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If you're interested in Latin or ancient history, or even just an entertaining read, check out the time-travel thriller In Saecula Saeculorum. Click to learn more.


You'll travel back to ancient Rome on a harrowing mission to save the modern world. It's the adventure of four lifetimes.

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A Latin Language Version of Adele's "Hello" by Keith Massey, PhD

I had not done a new Latin language cover since just before New Year's, when I did Auld Lang Syne.

A friend forwarded to me the information on a Cover Contest, and I decided it was time to create.

I chose Adele's "Hello." After the video, I share the English and Latin lyrics. If you are a Latin student or teacher, I hope you find the product a useful way to make Latin come alive in the modern world. I invite you to like the video on Youtube. Who knows, maybe a Latin language video can make a showing in this contest!

Verse
Hello, it's me	Salve, sum ego
I was wondering if after all these years you'd like to meet	Mirabar si tibi convenire post hos annos placeret
To go over everything	ut omnia meditaremur
They say that time's supposed to heal ya	Dicunt tempus te sanare
But I ain't done much healing	Sed non sanatus sum multum
Hello, can you hear me	Salve, me audire potes
I'm in California dreaming about who we used to be	Sum in California somnians de quibus eramus
When we were younger and free	Ubi eramus iuniores et liberi
I've forgotten how it felt before the world fell at our feet	Oblitus sum quomodo erat antequam mundus cecidit pro nobis
There's such a difference between us	Tanta differentia est inter nos
And a million miles	et decies centena milia passuum
Chorus
Hello from the other side	Salve de altera parte
I must have called a thousand times	scilicet milies vocavi te
To tell you I'm sorry for everything that I've done	ut tibi narrarem me paenitere pro omnibus quae feci
But when I call you never seem to be home	Sed ubi te voco, numquam es domi
Hello from the outside	Salve de foris
At least I can say that I've tried	Possum saltem dicere me conatum esse
To tell you I'm sorry for breaking your heart	tibi dicere me paenitere animum tuum fregisse
But it don't matter it clearly doesn't tear you apart anymore	Sed non refert quod clare te distrahit non amplius.
Verse
Hello, how are you?	Salve, quid agis?
It's so typical of me to talk about myself I'm sorry	dicere de me ipso soleo, me paenitet
I hope that you're well	Spero te valere
Did you ever make it out of that town where nothing ever happened	discessisti umquam ex oppido in quo nihil accidit
It's no secret that the both of us	secretum non est ut nobis
Are running out of time	tempus fugit.

Latin Worth Knowing: Auribus Teneo Lupum / I Have a Wolf by the Ears

The playwright Terence, in his classic (tee hee) play the Phormio, gives us an interesting quote, which was apparently already a quote in his day:

id quod aiunt, auribus teneo lupum
That which they say, "I have a wolf by the ears." 
(Terentius, Phormio 506)

The fact that he prefaces the quote with "that which they say (id quod aiunt)" means this is not just something he is saying, this is current in their culture.

It is parallel to what we might say with "To Have a Tiger by the Tail." In other words, one is in a situation where action and inaction are equally dangerous and un-(forgive the pun)-tenable.

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If you're interested in Latin or ancient history, or even just an entertaining read, check out the time-travel thriller In Saecula Saeculorum. Click to learn more.

It's a bargain at 0.99 cents on Kindle (or affordably priced at $11.90 on paperback). 

You'll travel back to ancient Rome on a harrowing mission to save the modern world. It's the adventure of four lifetimes.

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Latin Worth Knowing: Davus sum, non Oedipus - I'm Davus, not Oedipus

Oedipus, for all of his other Oedipal failings, solved the riddle of the Sphinx:

"What is that which has one voice and yet becomes four-footed and two-footed and three-footed?"

He solves it, "A man, who as a baby crawls on all fours, then walks on two feet, and then, in old age, adds a cane."

The Sphinx, in despair that someone solved the riddle, commits suicide. 

The Roman playwright Terence, in his play Andria 1.2, has the trickster slave, when asked to solve a problem, utter the delightful response:

Davus sum, non Oedipus.
"I'm Davus, not Oedipus."

This quote, useful I guess now only within the most erudite settings, can be employed when one is asked to speak to an area far outside their area of expertise. 

My high school Latin students typically are working levels of mathematics far beyond what I was required even for my BA degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1987. And I have said, when asked by one of them, "Hey, Dr. Massey, can you help me with Calculus?"

"Davus sum, non Oedipus."

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If you're interested in Latin or ancient history, or even just an entertaining read, check out the time-travel thriller In Saecula Saeculorum. Click to learn more.

It's a bargain at 0.99 cents on Kindle (or affordably priced at $11.90 on paperback). 

You'll travel back to ancient Rome on a harrowing mission to save the modern world. It's the adventure of four lifetimes.

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Latin Quotes Worth Knowing: Gladiator in arena consilium capit - The Gladiator makes his plan in the Arena

This is a delightful quote, embodying both key vocabulary and a crucially important lesson on life.

Gladiator in arena consilium capit.
The Gladiator makes (his) plan in the Arena. 
(Seneca, Epistolae 22.1)

The point being, making a plan in the arena is too late! One needs to plan ahead in order to succeed.

Nota Bene, the Latin idiom to "take" (capere) a plan (consilium) rather than the English idiom "to make a plan." 

________________________________________________________________

If you're interested in Latin or ancient history, or even just an entertaining read, check out the time-travel thriller In Saecula Saeculorum. Click to learn more.

It's a bargain at 0.99 cents on Kindle (or affordably priced at $11.90 on paperback). 

You'll travel back to ancient Rome on a harrowing mission to save the modern world. It's the adventure of four lifetimes.

________________________________________________________________

Latin Worth Knowing About: sunt pueri pueri. pueri puerilia tractant

sunt pueri pueri. pueri puerilia tractant.

This is a Medieval maxim of uncertain provenance.

The first part of this is a tautology. "Boys are boys." But we, of course, understand what this actually means. We have our own similar tautology: "Boys will be boys," i.e., boys will behave like boys--loud, rude, hyperactive, even violent. I can say this. I used to be a boy.

The second part, pueri puerilia tractant, essentially unpacks the tautology--"Boys carry out childish things."

Another Medieval variant reads:

sunt pueri pueri. vivunt iuveniliter illi.
"Boys are boys. They live youthfully."

While we're on the subject, enjoy another late Medieval celebration of youth, Gaudeamus Igitur!

________________________________________________________________

If you're interested in Latin or ancient history, or even just an entertaining read, check out the time-travel thriller In Saecula Saeculorum. Click to learn more.

It's a bargain at 0.99 cents on Kindle (or affordably priced at $11.90 on paperback). 

You'll travel back to ancient Rome on a harrowing mission to save the modern world. It's the adventure of four lifetimes.

________________________________________________________________

Carmen Annae: A Latin Language Version of John Denver's "Annie's Song"

It's simply one of the most beautiful songs ever written, so I am happy to humbly release my Latin Language version of John Denver's "Annie's Song."

It is, grammatically, fairly simple and employs enough repetition that I think it will be a valuable tool for any Latin teacher who wants to present something fun to their class. Latin translation and original lyrics are provided as subtitles in the video.

Fantastic Latin Themed Products!

I've dabbled in creating t-shirts, coffee cups, etc, on various themes. To this day I remain baffled as to why my Iguanodon Likes This idea did not make me a million dollars.

But I've stumbled today via Twitter on someone who has truly done Latin language themed merchandizing in a fashion that deserves promotion.

Meet Ginny Lindzey (@ginlindzey). She is a fellow Latin teacher and the inventory of products she has available on Cafe Press is simply extraordinary.

There's something for everyone. 

Here's a very nice design featuring classic quotes from Vergil's Aeneid. It's available, like all her products, in numerous other styles of clothing and items.

"Latin students never decline SEX."
That's a provocative statement, if you don't know Latin. Latin students, however, know that "to decline" means to produce the other case forms of a noun or adjective. And the numeral sex (six) is indeclinable, meaning it only has that one form. 

And if you love Catullus like I love Catullus, you will fancy Carmen 13 presented as it is on this t-shirt.

What I've shown here is just a tiny sample of Ginny's inventory. Please visit her site and explore the extensive and clever products available. 

Vivat Lingua Latina!

In Saecula Saeculorum - World Without End, Amen

Emperor Antoninus Pius

My novel In Saecula Saeculorum is a time travel adventure set in Ancient Rome. 

I wanted a Latin language title that would somehow encapsulate the concept of time and also touch upon the desperation of the mission depicted in the novel. 

Four young people have been unwittingly trained for a near hopeless mission back in time to Ancient Rome for an outside chance to save the modern world from certain destruction.

The phrase In Saecula Saeculorum turns out to be the perfect vehicle to convey this. Here's why.

 

In Saecula Saeculorum

This phrase is ubiquitous in the Latin Mass, as is its Greek antecedent in the Orthodox Liturgy, εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. 

It occurs multiple times in the Greek New Testament. In the King James translation, it is usually rendered "for ever and ever." In one place, Ephesians 3:21, however, the phrase is translated as "World without End."

Perhaps solely because of the glorious poetry of this felicitous rendering, "World without End" became the common doxology of the Book of Common Prayer of the Anglican Church.  

The word saeculum originally means "a lifetime." How long is that? It depends on each person. As such, what is a lifetime of lifetimes?

The young people in the novel In Saecula Saeculorum sacrifice the only lifetime they have for the outside chance to save the world. Someday the World will indeed end. But if they can do anything about it, our planet will remain a World without End on their watch...










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