# My friend was surprised I didn't know Latin, do YOU know Latin? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 15, 2014, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-was-surprised-i-didnt-know-latin-do-you-know-latin/698593 "2014-09-15T20:28:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![GoodOmens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@GoodOmens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GoodOmens)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-was-surprised-i-didnt-know-latin-do-you-know-latin/698593/61 "2014-09-16T11:45:53Z")
I certainly don’t know Latin, but I teach at a school where a number of my students take it. I know enough of the roots from Latin that I can usually get the gist of a passage in the language. Certainly learning the word roots helps a great deal for learning English vocab, but I question the use of learning a language that nobody has spoken in hundreds of years; my students don’t even learn to speak it very much because nobody’s sure about the pronounciation. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-was-surprised-i-didnt-know-latin-do-you-know-latin/698593/62 "2014-09-16T12:55:17Z")
I know enough Latin to understand the “Romans Go Home” scene in _Life of Brian_, but that is at least as much from what I know of British public schools as anything else. I know a lot of Latin phrases from reading William F. Buckley, who was always good for the occasional _ceteris paribus_ or _mirabile dictu_. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Lowry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Sam\_Lowry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Lowry)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-was-surprised-i-didnt-know-latin-do-you-know-latin/698593/63 "2014-09-16T13:21:38Z")
I don’t know Latin. It’s possible I would have guessed ignis means fire, but I definitely wouldn’t have known if that was from Latin or Greek. My high school offered Latin, but I don’t know how many people took it. It was much more common to take Spanish. > [@Procrustus](#): > > I took a lot of English classes, including AP Engligh my senior year. I don’t recall\*\* any\*\* discussion of Latin or Greek roots. I also don’t recall any of my teachers spending any time getting us prepared for the SAT. AP exams, sure. But we were on our own for the SAT. This is my experience too. I remember studying grammar, and reading a lot of novels and discussing them and writing about them, but never anything about Latin or Greek roots. That probably would have been helpful for the SAT, but there was never any class time devoted to the SAT. ---
**Author:** ![Macca26](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/13edae/32.png) [@Macca26](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Macca26)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-was-surprised-i-didnt-know-latin-do-you-know-latin/698593/64 "2014-09-16T14:08:29Z")
I learned Latin for a couple years in first and second grade. It was done specifically to help with the teaching of word connections and word roots in english. I did not specifcally learn ignis but it would have been an immediate and obvious connection to “ignite” and therefore “fire” to me. To me, it’s like the superhero “Frozone” in The Incredibles. I don’t have to think about it, it’s obvious that the guy has ice powers. I guess I’m not very surprised other people wouldn’t know, but I bet the other spells are similarly named, and if I didn’t get it, something would’ve twigged in my head anyway to cause me to look it up because “that sounds familiar, is it in another language maybe?”. I’d think it was weird if a person didn’t look it up or make the connection eventually. Take all this with a grain of salt. I already knew what lucre was before I played Dragon’s Crown. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-was-surprised-i-didnt-know-latin-do-you-know-latin/698593/65 "2014-09-16T14:40:42Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > I took a cool class in college, “English Words from Latin and Greek Origins.” My high school had a class like that (and still does). I didn’t take it, but I did take a year of Latin. I can read mottos and legends, in addition to recognizing roots. I still know my conjugations and declensions, because I go over them every so often. [I know enough that “octopi” and “feti” bug the hell out of me.](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2139/what-is-the-plural-of-penis) > [@VinylTurnip](#): > > I can converse fluently on the subjects of farmers, grain, and the fact that Britannia is an island while Gaul is not. Sicilia est insula. Italia non est insula. Italia est peninsula. First line of my Latin text. My parents wanted me to take both years of Latin that my high school offered, but I wanted to take biblical Hebrew at the local university (lots of high school kids got a release period from high school to take a class at the university). So I took one year of Latin, and then switched to Hebrew. I also took a year of French, and some French in college. Mostly because I really liked French movies. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-was-surprised-i-didnt-know-latin-do-you-know-latin/698593/66 "2014-09-16T14:53:34Z")
Perhaps the OP’s friend was under the misimpression that the OP lived in Latin America. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-was-surprised-i-didnt-know-latin-do-you-know-latin/698593/67 "2014-09-16T15:20:53Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Perhaps the OP’s friend was under the misimpression that the OP lived in Latin America. Was his friend the Russian Dan Quayle? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-was-surprised-i-didnt-know-latin-do-you-know-latin/698593/68 "2014-09-16T15:40:08Z")
I’ve never studied any Latin as such. I _think_ I would have connected “igni” with the English word ignite/ignition. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-was-surprised-i-didnt-know-latin-do-you-know-latin/698593/69 "2014-09-16T15:47:57Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I’ve never studied any Latin as such. > > I _think_ I would have connected “igni” with the English word ignite/ignition. Me too, and several other words. But even for those who had some High School Latin it’s easy to not connect the dots in a boring subject they’ve had no use for in life. And there are a number of words where the Latin root should be obvious to me and I wouldn’t get the connection. In addition this is in the context of a video game where words may have roots in many languages, or just be made up to sound good without any basis in a real language. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-was-surprised-i-didnt-know-latin-do-you-know-latin/698593/70 "2014-09-16T15:49:16Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Was his friend the Russian Dan Quayle? You know, I was thinking of George Bush when I posted that. I wonder why I keep getting those two mixed up… ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-was-surprised-i-didnt-know-latin-do-you-know-latin/698593/71 "2014-09-16T15:57:01Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > The Jesuit high school I attended in the Seventies required us to take 3 years of Latin. > > From what I hear, even that school now makes Latin optional. Might be. The Jesuit school I attended in the seventies required us to take _either_ three years of Latin, or three years of classical Greek. We had the option to take more, or to take both. ---
**Author:** ![Pixel\_Dent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@Pixel\_Dent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixel_Dent)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-was-surprised-i-didnt-know-latin-do-you-know-latin/698593/72 "2014-09-16T16:23:45Z")
2 years of Latin at a US public high school. 2 more years in college. While in high school I attended statewide Latin competitions with participants from hundreds of schools so at least in the 80’s it wasn’t that rare to find it taught at public high schools. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-was-surprised-i-didnt-know-latin-do-you-know-latin/698593/73 "2014-09-16T16:38:44Z")
> [@Pixel\_Dent](#): > > 2 years of Latin at a US public high school. 2 more years in college. > > While in high school I attended statewide Latin competitions with participants from hundreds of schools so at least in the 80’s it wasn’t that rare to find it taught at public high schools. Hey, I did that, too! I came in third in the state a time or two. I can’t remember more than that. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-was-surprised-i-didnt-know-latin-do-you-know-latin/698593/74 "2014-09-16T16:51:59Z")
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? (I took two years of grade school Latin) ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-was-surprised-i-didnt-know-latin-do-you-know-latin/698593/75 "2014-09-16T17:00:14Z")
Raised Catholic in the old days, I enjoyed browsing through the Missal during dull parts of the Mass–checking out the Latin & the English on the opposite page. Took two years of Latin in (public) high school. (Wish I’d studied more languages–and started sooner. Learn this stuff while your brain is young!) My first year Biology teacher started us with a list of Latin & Greek roots we’d need for the course. From a [Houston Vanguard school](http://www.houstonisd.org/site/default.aspx?PageType=3&DomainID=22629&ModuleInstanceID=107835&ViewID=047E6BE3-6D87-4130-8424-D8E4E9ED6C2A&RenderLoc=0&FlexDataID=95865&PageID=79426) that teaches the classics. ---
**Author:** ![Katriona](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/katriona/32/113_2.png) [@Katriona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katriona)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-was-surprised-i-didnt-know-latin-do-you-know-latin/698593/76 "2014-09-16T17:30:00Z")
It seems to be making a comeback; my friend’s daughter is taking it in HS now. I know bits and pieces that mostly come from Scottish clan mottos. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-was-surprised-i-didnt-know-latin-do-you-know-latin/698593/77 "2014-09-16T20:25:40Z")
Mark me down in the “doesn’t know Latin, but would have made the connection”. I have enough of a knack for identifying and connecting word roots that I can often get the gist of (simple) text in Romance languages I don’t know. Identifying spells by their Latin (or pseudo-Latin) names is old hat. ---
**Author:** ![davida03801](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5e925/32.png) [@davida03801](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davida03801)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-was-surprised-i-didnt-know-latin-do-you-know-latin/698593/78 "2014-09-16T20:30:46Z")
I took Latin for Freshman and Sophomore year in High School. It was dropped from the entire school district the following year. ---
**Author:** ![Subterraneanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Subterraneanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Subterraneanus)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-was-surprised-i-didnt-know-latin-do-you-know-latin/698593/79 "2014-09-16T20:39:07Z")
I took Latin in high school. I’m glad I did. ---
**Author:** ![RickG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rickg/32/5174_2.png) [@RickG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickG)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-was-surprised-i-didnt-know-latin-do-you-know-latin/698593/80 "2014-09-16T20:44:26Z")
I never took Latin in school, but I was aware of a lot of Latin and Greek roots in English from composition and literature classes. I wouldn’t have known the correct form of the Latin for fire, but I would connect the magic spell “Igni” with the English “ignite”, and assume it was a fire spell of some sort. My kids’ high school has a really spectacular Latin teacher. My daughter took two years of it (after giving up on French after 10th grade), and my son is currently taking the advanced level of Latin 3–they’re reading the Aeneid and learning the subjunctive right now. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-was-surprised-i-didnt-know-latin-do-you-know-latin/698593.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-was-surprised-i-didnt-know-latin-do-you-know-latin/698593.md?page=5)