Do you brag about knowing Greek or Latin?

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Do you brag?

I tell everyone I know
3
11%
I wait for the subject of languages to come up
10
36%
It's best to keep it to one's self
6
21%
I tell people, but I don't brag
9
32%
 
Total votes: 28

Amadeus
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Do you brag about knowing Greek or Latin?

Post by Amadeus »

Well, do you?
Lisa: Relax?! I can't relax! Nor can I yield, relent, or... Only two synonyms? Oh my God! I'm losing my perspicacity! Aaaaa!

Homer: Well it's always in the last place you look.

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Post by GlottalGreekGeek »

I wait for it to come up in a conversation, though it does not necessarily crop up in a conversation about languages. For example, if somebody asks me about my hobbies, Greek has a way of being one the first hobbies mentioned since it is more remarkable than, say, reading science fiction/fantasy books.

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IreneY
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Post by IreneY »

Not really. I didn't brag about Latin even when they were not so rusty (more rust than anything else really these days I'm afraid, I cannot even remember all the quirks of "cum")

Ancient Greek no "need". Not because I am Greek (it's not as if there are enough of us who really know AG) but because of my studies. Anyone around here who hears what I studied for knows I know Ancient Greek. When asked what I have studied and/or what is my chosen profession then it has to come out that I've studied and am (though not working currently) as a high-school teacher of (among other things) AG.

Mind you, if some witless idiot butchers the etymology of a word and insist that (s)he is right I will I know what I am talking about (someone told me i.e. that some -very few- persons wanted to make "history" "herstory" [sounds a bit like a book with the perfect, manly man with the chiselled chin doesn't it?]. I don't know if it counts as bragging but I will most certainly tell her that I know AG before launching in as minute and explanation as I can :twisted:


P.S. Because of what I studied I am supposed to know Latin too but thankfully very few people realise it :oops:

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Post by cdm2003 »

I "drop the words" whenever I can, though not for the sake of being a braggart (most people who don't know the two languages seem to care less). I tell everyone I know simply because I want to find others who know Latin. Aside from these forums, I've been unsuccessful.
Horum omnium fortissimi sunt Belgae

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Post by Deudeditus »

I tend to not say much, but give me a couple of bottles of liquid confidence and suddenly I know the mother of all romance languages, which should be pronounced like Italian if you want to win the hearts of the ladies, I've found. One time I recited Ovid's ars amatoria (of course I read it, not by heart), the part about the parthian cavalry, which pretty accurately describes me [joke]. :lol: :roll: haha.

Latin's nice to know, though. It kind of opens strange little doors that you never expected it would open. not to mention literary and scholarly doors.

-Jon

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Post by perispomenon »

I sneakily made a screensaver out of Iliad book 1 + translation. When I turn my laptop in screensaver mode, I just have to wait. Someone will always want to know what it is :)

Roughly, there are two groups: people who really couldn't care less, and people who start remembering their schooldays and will go all nostalgic.

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Natuerlich! Quippe!

Post by rustymason »

Ita vero! I put Latin and Greek sayings in my email signatures, leave my books "carelessly" and conspicuously lying about, and let anyone know who talks to me about education, homeschooling, or languages. I'm not trying to impress (well, ok, maybe a little), I'm trolling for others with similar interests.

So far, in this engineering company and in SW Houston suburbia, I'm still a rare bird. But I'll keep searching. Without Latin and Greek I'm nobody, nothing, just another good-looking millionaire hunk with a royal lineage and a perfect family. But with Latin and Greek, ah! Life gets really good, it suddenly has meaning!

Valete,
Rusticus

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Post by Amadeus »

Hahahae! That's really funny, guys. :lol: The real reason I ask is because I'm dying to tell someone without coming off (?) as a bragger. So far the people that know I study latin is my immediate family (meh!) and a priest friend of mine, who already masters latin. But as soon as I get back to college I want to share my knowledge with the class, and your approach, I think, will prove very helpful. 8)

Valete!
Lisa: Relax?! I can't relax! Nor can I yield, relent, or... Only two synonyms? Oh my God! I'm losing my perspicacity! Aaaaa!

Homer: Well it's always in the last place you look.

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Post by GlottalGreekGeek »

perispomenon wrote:When I turn my laptop in screensaver mode, I just have to wait. Someone will always want to know what it is.
Just like trying to study Greek and ride public transportation at the same time ;)

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Post by Kopio »

I try not to. In church circles, your considered some kind of higher level of "super Christian"...that's a label I could do without. When people do find out they get all funny, "Oh wow, what dedication, it must be so wonderful...yada yada yada".

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Post by Chris Weimer »

I have to. Latin and Greek are my majors, so its well known to anyone who asks. Besides, it actually bolstered my "sexiness" according to my girlfriend. :)

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Post by perispomenon »

Chris Weimer wrote:it actually bolstered my "sexiness"
Hmmm, I guess you started out with some sexiness to begin with then :D . It sure didn't work out that way for me, although being the one female in a working force of only men. They just think I'm completely insane, as opposed to being moderately insane before.

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Post by viking84 »

lol. I would never admit it to my friends, but one of my reasons to learn Latin is to be able to brag about it lol. My brother knows English, French and German (and speaks all of these languages quite fluently), my parents know a little English and German, my sisters only know Dutch (their mother tongue) and I would be one of the few in the family who know Latin 8-).

and indeed, I will take my Latin course books with me when I'm on the bus :'). but I'm always afraid that people will see me through, because I'm always like: is he / she looking at what I'm reading or not? :P.

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Post by Chris Weimer »

perispomenon wrote:Hmmm, I guess you started out with some sexiness to begin with then :D .
Heh, not to brag, but apparently I was sought after in a competition, or some such nonsense. ;)
It sure didn't work out that way for me, although being the one female in a working force of only men. They just think I'm completely insane, as opposed to being moderately insane before.
Knowing Latin or ancient languages is always something I find quite charming.

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Post by Bert »

I don't brag about it.
As a matter of fact, when I started I tried to hide it but that didn't work for very long.
I take a Greek Bible to Church but I have a cover over so it looks like a regular (read; English) Bible.
Because I am a member of Greek club, now most Church members know that I am studying it but I don't really get any strange comments or question. The odd time someone might ask me why a particular verse is translated in a certain way.
Another Greek club member is an expert of the Greek language right up to the chapter he is studying now and he wants everyone and his brother to know it. Drives me NUTS. I tutor him and a few others. It is hard to stay polite at times when he is spewing his knowledge for the benefit of the other students.
I am afraid of being viewed the way I view him so usually I don't bring up the subject.
The odd time someone genuinely interested will ask about it. Then I tend to get kind of excited talking about it.

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Post by easternugget »

Bert, what does this person do that is so annoying? because i fear it might be something i do...i usually try not to tell everyone but usually people tell for me. Last year I won this Greek award at school and my classmates make sure no one forgets it. However, arguing can be fun so during class, there are times when it seems as though i usurp the class arguing with another guy and his false views on everything :wink: probably to the dismay of my teacher...

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Post by Bert »

easternugget wrote: Bert, what does this person do that is so annoying?
I love discussing some aspect of Greek. Trying to come to an understanding about something by arguing about (discussing) it with someone who has a different view point is helpful. I don't consider that bragging. (This can of course depend on the way the discussion is conducted.)
But this person speaks in a condesending way to his fellow club members when they have made a mistake; Wispering the answer to a question someone else is trying to answer, wispering the "correct" pronunciation if he thinks someone else is wrong. His "vast store of knowledge" e.g. on the subjunctive is based on last weeks lesson.
easternugget wrote:
because i fear it might be something i do...i usually try not to tell everyone but usually people tell for me. Last year I won this Greek award at school and my classmates make sure no one forgets it.
That is the difference right there. If someone else gives you a compliment it sure means a lot more than if you have to compliment yourself when others are present.
Congratulations on the award.

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Post by mariek »

perispomenon wrote:I sneakily made a screensaver out of Iliad book 1 + translation. When I turn my laptop in screensaver mode, I just have to wait. Someone will always want to know what it is :)
There was a time when I played Latin on my laptop at work. Someone actually came up to me and asked me, "Why are you listening to Spanish?" :shock:

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