Thursday, July 31, 2008

Hic, haec, hoc

Hic haec hoc
Huius huius huius
Huic huic huic
Hunc hanc hoc
Hoc hac hoc

Hi hae haec
Horum harum horum
His his his
Hos has haec
His his his

Do you old Latin buffs out there remember these paradigms, and having to chant them each morning?? Well, Charlie was so excited about his newly acquired passion for the Latin language that when, on arriving in Dodge City with his friends, they came upon a mysterious old inscription nailed to a hitching post, he was excited to try his hand at translation. This is what the sign read:
TOTI
EMUL
ESTO
O.K. This should be easy, thought he. It looks like the newly learned dative case of totus + emul, like simul, simultaneously? + some form of sum, es, est, the exotic future imperative, perhaps? Unfortunately for Charlie, it was one of his friends who pointed out that the old post simply said: TO TIE MULES TO!!

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