My Brother's school has Latin as a Subject. He's bad at it but asks a clever question: What's the point of learning Latin even though it's a dead language? Comment for answers please! And I need you're opinion!

I see no point in learning Latin.

Originally Posted by SachinP2000

My Brother's school has Latin as a Subject. He's bad at it but asks a clever question: What's the point of learning Latin even though it's a dead language? Comment for answers please! And I need you're opinion!

Hi Sachin...a lot of medical terms derive from Latin language. Just saying...

By the way, I am moving this to the off-topic discussions.

Thanks!

I learnt Latin and it didn't do me any harm. And without a basic understanding of the language the immortal "Romans, go home!" sketch from Monty Python's Life of Brian is completely unintelligible. It's worth learning for that alone.

Originally Posted by SachinP2000

... you're opinion...

Don't take this personally, but for starters, it might have helped prevent your little homonym problem.

Actually learning Latin, as in being able to hold a conversation in it, is probably overkill. But making an effort to understand Latin's influence on modern languages will make one a better writer and speaker. Good writing is always respected, and good writers typically have better jobs. Being misunderstood through lack of language skill equals failure, and poor language skills are often perceived, fairly or not, as lack of intelligence.

Of course, that hilarious Life of Brian scene was written to satirize the obligatory Latin courses the Python members took themselves as English schoolboys. But look where Latin got them!

"Romani ite domum" indeed.

milliHelen: amount of beauty required to launch one ship.

I've often found the little bit of Latin I learned in school handy for making good guesses at words I don't know. Even helped with the SAT, back, back, back in the day.

Frankly, any learning is good,

and occasionally stretching the mind in directions that seem pointless is a great way to make sure you don't become a dull reflection of what society thinks is "useful".

"Carpe diem" is the only Latin I know!

Originally Posted by goofy8275

"Carpe diem" is the only Latin I know!

Dead fish?

Originally Posted by KevinJS

Dead fish?

It means "seize the day"

Originally Posted by goofy8275

"Carpe diem" is the only Latin I know!

You probably know more Latin than you think. It's scattered throughout the English language. Do any of these look familiar?

• caveat emptor
• et cetera
• ad hoc
• ad nauseam
• in vino veritas
• vice versa
• via
• veni, vidi, vici (classic)
• semper fidelis (Marine's Moto)
• quorum
• pro bono
• prima facie
• per se
• per diem
• per capita
• non sequitur
• mea culpa (what I'll say if I've made any mistakes here)
• magnum opus
• ipso facto
• in vivo
• in vitro
• in situ
• habeas corpus
• et tu, Brute? (Shakespeare, anyone?)
• e pluribus unum (you really should know this one)
• de facto
• curriculum vitae (you'll learn this one)
• bona fide
• alma mater
• alter ego
• alibi
• agenda
• affidavit
• ad astra (all SciFi nuts know (or should know) this one)

I admit to cheating here. I'd be hard pressed to come up with a list this long off the top of my head. I consulted a (very long) list on Wikipedia. However, I only chose the ones that I both knew what they meant and consider to be in common use. Of course, I read a lot, so what I consider common use might be a bit wider in scope than those that prefer different vices, or have not been at the vice as long as I.