Classics Humour Is Not Earth Humour

[lauzeta]

Ladies and gentlemen, I present the last two weeks:

Latin 301

PROF: Oh, and did you know - this is how you get rid of the tire-kickers in Latin 100 - that there's an actual Latin phrase that goes "malo malo malo malo"?
CLASS: *blink*
PROF: It means, "I'd rather be in an apple tree than an evil man in adversity."
CLASS: *headtilt* .... Ohh.*

CLST

Comments

[algae_al_fresco]

gin and chthonic.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA

Oh dear gods, I could use one.

[lauzeta]

Tell me about it.

[lauzeta]

Okay. *cracks knuckles*

malo = first person singular of the verb malo, malle, malui, "to prefer"

malo = ablative singular of the noun malus, mali, f., "apple tree"

You understand the verb "to be" and the preposition "in", which you can do in Latin. "In" takes the ablative case (rather than the accusative, which is for most direct objects).

malo = masculine ablative singular of the adjective malus, mala, malum, "evil"

You understand the noun "man" because the adjective is masculine, which you can do in Latin - objects often get referred to strictly by attributes. In this case, the ablative is an ablative of comparison.

malo = ablative singular of the noun malum, mali, n., "evil"

Again, you understand the preposition "in", which takes the ablative case.

Crazy, huh? Now you know why I whine about my homework. Which I should be doing right now, come to think of it.

[lauzeta]

Oh, sorry. Okay, so what you've got, basically, is:

I prefer [to be] [in] an apple tree [than] an evil [man] [in] an evil [situation].

You say "adversity" because it rhymes. :D

EEEEEEEEEEEEE!

[musakura]

OMGOMGOMGOMG! I'd completely forgotten about malo malo malo malo!!!!! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEheeheeeheee!

Aw, I miss being in CLST. *pout*

Re: EEEEEEEEEEEEE!

[lauzeta]

Awwww, poor Mu. You can live vicariously through my LJ whenever you want though. :D

Re: EEEEEEEEEEEEE!

[musakura]

Yay, thanks!