Go to previous post:
Secret History:

Go to Electrolite's front page.

Go to next post:
Spectacularly erudite blog post of the decade:

Our Admirable Sponsors

March 2, 2003

Don’t forget, thanks to the Finnish Broadcasting Company, you can always get a summary of the week’s world news in Latin:
SADDAM CONTUMAX
In colloquio interrogatorio societatis televisificae CBS Saddam Hussein, praesidens Iraquiae, affirmavit se in patria mansurum neque in exsilium iturum esse, licet bellum oreretur. Neque sibi ullam cum Osama bin Laden necessitudinem intercedere. Missilia al-Samoud, quippe quae decreta Nationum Unitarum non violarent, ab Iraquianis non deletum iri.
[01:52 PM]
Welcome to Electrolite's comments section.
Hard-Hitting Moderator: Teresa Nielsen Hayden.

Comments on Don't forget,:

Teresa Nielsen Hayden ::: (view all by) ::: March 02, 2003, 02:42 PM:

And did you notice that in observance of the 2000th anniversary of Horace, they've released a music CD, Variationes Horatianae Iazzicae, a collection of jazz pieces with texts adapted from Horace?

My theory about Finnish Latinists is that they think Latin is such a cute little thing that they keep it around as a pet.

Chuck Nolan ::: (view all by) ::: March 02, 2003, 03:51 PM:

Good thing my high school Latiin teacher passed away a few years ago. If he'd heard about this he would have mailed us translation assignments. And my QPA couldn't stand another round of F's.

marty ::: (view all by) ::: March 02, 2003, 07:31 PM:

Isn't Finland the country that had a guy who sang Elvis Presley songs in Latin?

Diana ::: (view all by) ::: March 03, 2003, 04:51 AM:

Yes, it is, but that was for export only - revenge for The Bold and the Beautiful.

Old English is also kept as a pet here. It's much closer to Finnish than modern English (free word order, every letter pronounced, etc.) and therefore much easier for Finns to learn.