Latin in Everyday Life
A) This week I experienced Latin in my Biology class. The word biology has the root- Bio,
which means life. We are learning about mitosis and one of the main functions of mitosis
is the breakdown of the cytoplasm. Cyt, the root, comes from the Latin word Cell. We are
also talking about monosaccharides—Mono, the Latin root, means one.
B) In Roman history, many times I hear the Latin root Aqua which means water. In Ancient
Rome they used aqueducts to transport water from one place to another. I was reading an
article online about Ancient Rome and I came across the word.
C) Some of my friends go to Jesuit and play lacrosse. Their motto is Legatum which means
bequest, legacy, entrust, or commander. Everyone in their fan section wears a t-shirt that
says this, and I think it is really cool.
D) Another thing we use frequently that has a Latin root that we don’t realize is Jur. We see
this in the word Jury which deals with the law. When talking about the government roles
in history we always come across the judicial branch and I never take into consideration
that there is Latin everywhere.
E) In many classes this year we have had vocab quizzes. People don’t realize that the word
vocab is broken up into parts. The root, voc, means word or name. I think this is cool
because it is used almost every day in class, but we don’t realize it.
I really do appreciate Latin and think it is great for the world. I see Latin every day and I
sometimes understand many things I hear very frequently. I see Latin in my ACT testing prep, in
my core classes at Parish, and just little things that people say to me. Latin has helped my
understanding of many words and I am very glad I take Latin and I know I will use it for most of my life.
Bryson Boyette
January Blog Post- "Latin Helps us All the Time"
January Blog Post- "Latin Helps us All the Time"
Lucy Robinson
1. My first experience where Latin helped me while not in class was this month. During rehearsals for the school musical Matilda, I learned about a song called "The Hammer,". In the song, we sing a verse that says "Circulum est Deus! Deus!" which translates to "Circle is God! God!". Their school motto is "Bambinatum est Magitum" which is fake-Latin for "Children are Maggots". Though the second phrase is not actual Latin, it does represent how most schools mottos are. The phrase circle is God! relates to the song Ms. Trunchbull is singing. She talks about throwing a Hammer for your country, which is a reference to the Hammer throw she won in the 1972 Olympics. She then goes on to say you have to stay inside the circle, which is part of the rules, but it also a metaphor for doing things the way they should be done. Relating the circle to God means that if you step outside the circle, you go to hell, which is what Ms. Trunchbull thinks the children are doing.
2. The second experience is the World Language Olympics we did on the last Monday of January. Other than the fact that we had a whole section on Latin, I relate this to when I had to run a station. At the beginning of the Olympics, instead of going with my advisory I went to go lead a station on chariot races. Chariot races were very common in Ancient Rome for soldiers or slaves to compete with horses.
2. The second experience is the World Language Olympics we did on the last Monday of January. Other than the fact that we had a whole section on Latin, I relate this to when I had to run a station. At the beginning of the Olympics, instead of going with my advisory I went to go lead a station on chariot races. Chariot races were very common in Ancient Rome for soldiers or slaves to compete with horses.
3. At the beginning of January, I was told by my English teacher that we would be reading Frankenstein. Not only reading, but also annotating. Now, of course, I know what annotation meant, but I wanted to make sure that I did what was acceptable, so when I searched up the requirements of annotating, I was surprised to find out the meaning came from the word itself. Annotate comes from two words in Latin: ad and nota. Ad means to and nota means note, so the word annotate literally means to note.
4. Also while in English class, in the First Trimester, we had to read William Shakespeare's, Julius Caesar. This play is based on the death of Julius Caesar and the moments leading up to it. The book is often used to explain his death and how the Roman Senators formed to become conspiracists. When reading the book though, I already knew the story from the many times I was told about it in Latin.
5. The last example of how Latin has helped me understand things today was when I was getting a lecture by Mr. Adcox and he said "Vice Versa". Now, I sort of knew what it meant, but when I went home I searched it up and found it's origin is from Latin. Vice Versa is an actual Latin saying that the English took which means "the other way around".
Reflection:
After putting all these examples together in a blog, I wonder how many times Latin has been brought up in my life and I didn't even know. Latin is an extra way to help me understand terms and history without me even knowing. Sometimes I know things from Latin and I don't even realize where I learned it, and that just shows how impactful Latin has been for me.
How Latin Has Helped Me
1) This series of books I enjoy reading is based in a society that takes almost all aspects of life from Roman culture. One of the best examples of this is their names. A few of these names are Cassius, Nero, Adrius, and Octavia. By knowing Roman culture from Latin class, I could tell where these names originated from. This was helpful because the names foreshadowed the actions of the characters.
2) I have used my Latin knowledge a lot in biology. For example, while we were learning about carbohydrates, I was instantly able to tell that a disaccharide was a carbohydrate made of two simple sugars. My knowledge of prefixes has helped a lot in that class.
3) Last year, I spent my Spring break in Washington D.C. It was the second time I had gone, the first being when I was in 8th grade. This time was different though, as I could actually read all the Latin inscriptions that were plastered around the capital. I also understood the fasces that were located near the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
4) I'm currently studying Italian for when I go there with Parish abroad, and my knowledge of Latin has helped me a lot. While I may not always know the exact meaning of a word, I can usually get a decent idea from simply comparing it with a similar Latin word.
5) I've used my Latin knowledge a few times while studying for the SAT. In the English sections, when it asks for the meaning of a word, it usually helps to think of a similar word in Latin. Just like when studying Italian, the influence of Latin on modern language comes in handy.
2) I have used my Latin knowledge a lot in biology. For example, while we were learning about carbohydrates, I was instantly able to tell that a disaccharide was a carbohydrate made of two simple sugars. My knowledge of prefixes has helped a lot in that class.
3) Last year, I spent my Spring break in Washington D.C. It was the second time I had gone, the first being when I was in 8th grade. This time was different though, as I could actually read all the Latin inscriptions that were plastered around the capital. I also understood the fasces that were located near the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
4) I'm currently studying Italian for when I go there with Parish abroad, and my knowledge of Latin has helped me a lot. While I may not always know the exact meaning of a word, I can usually get a decent idea from simply comparing it with a similar Latin word.
5) I've used my Latin knowledge a few times while studying for the SAT. In the English sections, when it asks for the meaning of a word, it usually helps to think of a similar word in Latin. Just like when studying Italian, the influence of Latin on modern language comes in handy.
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