# How do I stop people from mocking me for majoring in Latin **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 17, 2011, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-stop-people-from-mocking-me-for-majoring-in-latin/589333 "2011-07-17T07:37:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-stop-people-from-mocking-me-for-majoring-in-latin/589333/41 "2011-07-17T17:41:46Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > sure I can articulate it but it doesn’t satisfy everyone. I need a master orator so I can appease the haters What do you say to them? ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-stop-people-from-mocking-me-for-majoring-in-latin/589333/42 "2011-07-17T17:59:11Z")
What is the Latin translation of “Nuke them from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.”? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-stop-people-from-mocking-me-for-majoring-in-latin/589333/43 "2011-07-17T18:12:16Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > I do take Greek too. Maybe Hebrew next. > but all financial questions aside, is there value in studying the humanities in 2011? I think there is of course, or else I wouldn’t be doing it. But I am not good at explaining why and was hoping someone more articulate could help. Did they enjoy the film _300_? What about _Harry Potter_? Greek and Latin aside, try asking them to avoid the humanities for a week: no television, no movies, don’t look at any art, conversation limited to the exchange of practical information. No news that references history. They probably don’t value the humanities because they associate them with leisure (=fun) and because they don’t notice how pervasive they are. As for Latin, the role that English has now in the world was held by Latin for over a thousand years. If they think English is valuable, by their own logic they must think that Latin was once valuable, and for ten times as long as English (as far as international languages go). Now the only argument they have is that studying the past has no value, an argument that’s pretty hard to sustain. Seriously: you’re in college for an education. Your bachelor’s degree means you have a strong ability for critical and analytical thinking. Mastering Latin and Greek demonstrates that pretty well, and shows you’re a bit more adventurous and imaginative than an economics major. You thus have all the skills you need for thousands of different employment fields. ---
**Author:** ![Panurge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@Panurge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Panurge)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-stop-people-from-mocking-me-for-majoring-in-latin/589333/44 "2011-07-17T18:20:16Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > I do take Greek too. Maybe Hebrew next. > > […] Hebrew? Do you want to end up with a useless degree? Take Sanskrit, dude. (I did). ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-stop-people-from-mocking-me-for-majoring-in-latin/589333/45 "2011-07-17T18:32:31Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > Just point out all those hot Latino chicks you’re going to get to bang. If they’re Latin **o** , there’s going to be a surprise involved. Stick to the Latin **a** chicks. Or don’t. Whatever you’re into. ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-stop-people-from-mocking-me-for-majoring-in-latin/589333/46 "2011-07-17T18:51:56Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > sure I can articulate it but it doesn’t satisfy everyone. I need a master orator so I can appease the haters You don’t. But if you want one anyway, I have a few suggestions. I suggest you actually read them in Latin, since they are all wonderful texts. [The Metalogicon](http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/john-salisbury/#4) of John of Salisbury is a spirited defense of a liberal arts education from the 12th century. John complained that all kids wanted in his day was to get their degree stamped so they could get a cushy government job. This battle was fought and lost almost 1000 years ago. For something a little more classical, you can always read Cicero’s _de Oratore_. If you don’t know what it’s about, then read the chapter in Conte on Cicero. Augustine talks a great deal about his education in the _Confessions_. But really, as far as your job prospects are concerned, your major really doesn’t matter at all. What matters is that whatever you choose, do it as rigorously as you can. In your case, take all of the prose comp, stylistics, and upper-level survey classes you can. If you are smart and motivated, you’ll do fine. Better, even, then the hacks who try to pick something practical to major in and just end end up as drones. Classics really can equip you with a useful mental apparatus if you take it seriously enough. As long as you keep reading, classics will enrich your life until the day you die. Hell, some authors will tell you how to die properly, too. How many majors teach you how to have a good death, let along a good life? I was a classics major, too, and graduated in 2000. I have done very well for myself in a variety of fields and I live a pretty interesting life. I was successful in business, was promoted several times at a Fortune 50 company, and now consult and work on my PhD. I get to do business, research, travel, and teach, all on my own schedule. I know a lot of other classics people, especially now since I am back in academia, and they have had their pick of careers. Many end up lawyers, since our verbal skills, analytical skills, and trained memory are quite useful in law. It’s delightful to come across a classics major in my corporate travels, too. We instantly have something in common, far more so I think than people who major in subjects with a broader appeal. ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-stop-people-from-mocking-me-for-majoring-in-latin/589333/47 "2011-07-17T18:53:01Z")
> [@Panurge](#): > > Hebrew? Do you want to end up with a useless degree? Take Sanskrit, dude. (I did). I was going to say that, too. Sanskrit is _great_. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-stop-people-from-mocking-me-for-majoring-in-latin/589333/48 "2011-07-17T19:04:18Z")
> [@Panurge](#): > > Hebrew? Do you want to end up with a useless degree? Take Sanskrit, dude. (I did). Sanskrit. You’re majoring in a 5,000-year-old dead language? ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-stop-people-from-mocking-me-for-majoring-in-latin/589333/49 "2011-07-17T19:12:42Z")
I think it is totally awesome you or anyone can get a major in Latin. When someone gives you crap over it, tell them your switching to Ebonics. ---
**Author:** ![colonial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/34f0e0/32.png) [@colonial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colonial)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-stop-people-from-mocking-me-for-majoring-in-latin/589333/50 "2011-07-17T19:22:14Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > damn kids these days have no respect for the classics I think you should be complimented for majoring in a challenging subject, one which provides insight into the origin and meaning of surely a quarter and maybe close to half of the most common words in the English language. ---
**Author:** ![Panurge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@Panurge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Panurge)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-stop-people-from-mocking-me-for-majoring-in-latin/589333/51 "2011-07-17T19:26:59Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Sanskrit. You’re majoring in a 5,000-year-old dead language? Nope. I minored in it (or a Danish equivalent to a minor - I had 2.5 years of Sanskrit). Yes. I _do_ have a job! ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-stop-people-from-mocking-me-for-majoring-in-latin/589333/52 "2011-07-17T19:28:39Z")
Sorry. That was a movie quote (PCU, starring Jeremy Piven). ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-stop-people-from-mocking-me-for-majoring-in-latin/589333/53 "2011-07-17T19:39:52Z")
Cast a _petronis_ on them. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-stop-people-from-mocking-me-for-majoring-in-latin/589333/54 "2011-07-17T21:01:09Z")
> [@Maeglin](#): > > Many end up lawyers, since our verbal skills, analytical skills, and trained memory are quite useful in law. Many end up lawyers because they graduate with a degree in Latin and have no idea what to do career-wise. Actually, I would go with the counterintuitive approach. For undergrad, it’s ok to take bullshit humanities majors. And here’s why. Practical majors are for worker bees. Study engineering, accounting, computers, etc? That’s for nerds who want to end up as been counters and computer code monkeys. Brilliant, creative visionaries who end up running the show take liberal arts. I mean the downside is you better have freakin graduated from Harvard or Princeton or some other top school with a 3.8 GPA. You’re only a creative visionary genius with top grades from a top school when you are a sociology major. Anything you’re just some dumbass taking slacker courses. And you will still probably need to go to business or law school anyway. > [@Shirley Ujest](#): > > I think it is totally awesome you or anyone can get a major in Latin. > > When someone gives you crap over it, tell them your switching to Ebonics. Actually, you would tell them you BE switchin’ to Ebonics. ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-stop-people-from-mocking-me-for-majoring-in-latin/589333/55 "2011-07-17T23:07:21Z")
Sadly, my school doesn’t offer Sanskrit (rumor says we used to have it but the teacher left but I don’t know for sure). There was a club where some students on their own tried to learn it, but they gave up after a week (I could have joined, but I didn’t find out about this until later). ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-stop-people-from-mocking-me-for-majoring-in-latin/589333/56 "2011-07-17T23:14:02Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > damn kids these days have no respect for the classics Saying this while shaking your cane works. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-stop-people-from-mocking-me-for-majoring-in-latin/589333/57 "2011-07-18T00:45:59Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Actually, you would tell them you BE switchin’ to Ebonics. And then after studying Ebonics, you would learn that this was incorrect. The “be [verb]” construction is used in African-American Vernacular English to indicate a habitual action, not a one-time act like changing to a particular major. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-stop-people-from-mocking-me-for-majoring-in-latin/589333/58 "2011-07-18T01:02:04Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > damn kids these days have no respect for the classics Honestly, it might be the combination of the dead language in which you’re majoring, the Laserdisc collection you’ve brought to college and whatever other anachronisms you demonstrate. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-stop-people-from-mocking-me-for-majoring-in-latin/589333/59 "2011-07-18T01:24:18Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Honestly, it might be the combination of the dead language in which you’re majoring, the Laserdisc collection you’ve brought to college and whatever other anachronisms you demonstrate. Maybe it’s the collection of original Star Wars[sup]tm[/sup] action figures he carries with him as well. Boba Fett just doesn’t attract the kind of popular attention he once did. ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-stop-people-from-mocking-me-for-majoring-in-latin/589333/60 "2011-07-18T01:27:41Z")
I don’t have any Star Wars figures. I have just a few Star Trek ones but they’re in a box in my room and I never display them or talk about them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-stop-people-from-mocking-me-for-majoring-in-latin/589333.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-stop-people-from-mocking-me-for-majoring-in-latin/589333.md?page=4)