Friday, December 12, 2008

More Latin wordplay!

Verus amicus amore more ore re cognoscitur.

This has been percolating through the Latinteach mailing list. It means, "A true friend is known by his love, his habits, his speech, and his deeds." But no one knows where it came from. If you google it, you will find a surprising number of people quoting it and attributing it to Virgil. It's nowhere in Virgil, though.

6 comments:

Sheila said...

Hm. I wonder who it comes from. It certainly is catchy.

Ever read Greek palindromes?

Meredith said...

I actually have read one! It was an inscription for a fountain.

Which reminds me of something. When I was in Sienna, I looked at the Palio wall in the cathedral, with all its racing helmets and offerings - and someone had left a plaque with a Greek inscription. I wrote it down, but I still haven't translated it. It's a prayer to Our Lady.

Enbrethiliel said...

+JMJ+

Meredith, have you stumbled across these Latin Christmas Carols:

http://gaudium-mundo.blogspot.com/

Enbrethiliel said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Meredith said...

Some of those are really nice. I like "Rex Wenceslaus."

Enbrethiliel said...

+JMJ+

Here's something on the classical world in general:

http://flavias.blogspot.com/

Do you know the YA series The Roman Mysteries? The author has a genius for making the classical world come alive for children--and for the young at heart.