It's All Greek to Me
We've had an ongoing debate ever since I came to the J-School about the usefulness of our Latin & Greek etymology requirement. We used to require two courses and now require one, but I have crusaded to have even that eliminated in favor of something more directly relevant like, say, grammar or even business. Trust me, I love words as much as the next writer, and maybe more than most, but the best way to expand a writer's vocabulary is through reading, and we can't seem to even get our students to do that.
We're finally moving to ditch the etymology course, but not without a lot of hrumphing from the Classics Department.
This quote from Montaigne seems to capture well my feelings on the matter, particularly as pompous and indignant as the Classics folks have been:
"All the advantage you recognize is that his Latin and Greek have made him more conceited and arrogant than when he left home. He should have brought back his soul full; he brings it back only swollen; he has only inflated it instead of enlarging it." - Montaigne
We're finally moving to ditch the etymology course, but not without a lot of hrumphing from the Classics Department.
This quote from Montaigne seems to capture well my feelings on the matter, particularly as pompous and indignant as the Classics folks have been:
"All the advantage you recognize is that his Latin and Greek have made him more conceited and arrogant than when he left home. He should have brought back his soul full; he brings it back only swollen; he has only inflated it instead of enlarging it." - Montaigne