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Re: Poor disciplinary C.H. staff

Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2017 5:23 pm
by Foureyes
Some 30 years ago, my wife and I visited a large garden in Germany. My wife, who is a dedicated gardener, but who only spoke eight languages at that time, tried to speak to the head gardener in English, which he could not understand, while he would only speak German, which she could not understand. But when she mentioned the Latin name of one of the flowers he immediately answered in that language and for the next thirty minutes they conversed very happily in Latin (I had not the slightedst idea as to what they were saying). Latin was certainly not a 'dead' language where they were concerned - it also shows one of the fringe benefits of being an RC!
David :shock:

Re: Poor disciplinary C.H. staff

Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2017 9:42 pm
by sejintenej
Katharine wrote: If Horsham was anything like Hertford, all the A stream started learning Latin, as it was not known who might be applying to Oxbridge 6 or 7 years later.
In 1953 I was in the D stream (out of A to E) and had two years of Latin.

I did notice Michael's " te absolvo." above - were the Romans that way inclined or is the French, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian avoidance of the second person singular a recent invention?

Re: Poor disciplinary C.H. staff

Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2017 9:47 pm
by LongGone
Foureyes wrote:Some 30 years ago, my wife and I visited a large garden in Germany. My wife, who is a dedicated gardener, but who only spoke eight languages at that time, tried to speak to the head gardener in English, which he could not understand, while he would only speak German, which she could not understand. But when she mentioned the Latin name of one of the flowers he immediately answered in that language and for the next thirty minutes they conversed very happily in Latin (I had not the slightedst idea as to what they were saying). Latin was certainly not a 'dead' language where they were concerned - it also shows one of the fringe benefits of being an RC!
David :shock:
I had a related experience in the 60s, when I found that in the remoter parts of Brittany I could use my rudimentary Welsh and be understood by some of the older villagers.

Re: Poor disciplinary C.H. staff

Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2017 8:00 am
by dsmg
Talking of Latin, in Tom Keeley's classroom, scratched into one of the desks (we could have a thread on this with their holes and graffiti) was the following which tickled my fancy and has stayed with me for 45 years since I read it.

Latin is a language as dead as dead can be.
It killed the ancient Romans and now it's killing me.
:axe:

Re: Poor disciplinary C.H. staff

Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2017 11:47 am
by sejintenej
LongGone wrote:
I had a related experience in the 60s, when I found that in the remoter parts of Brittany I could use my rudimentary Welsh and be understood by some of the older villagers.
Wales, Cornwall and Brittany use the same tune for their "national" anthems.
In remotest Devon our patois was sufficient to speak to the Breton fishermen when they came in to avoid gales. Some words sound like words in the oïl patois which preceded French

Re: Poor disciplinary C.H. staff

Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2017 12:57 pm
by Katharine
sejintenej wrote:
Katharine wrote: If Horsham was anything like Hertford, all the A stream started learning Latin, as it was not known who might be applying to Oxbridge 6 or 7 years later.
In 1953 I was in the D stream (out of A to E) and had two years of Latin.
CH either had great faith in your innate ability to climb the academic ladder, or in their own teaching ability!!

Re: Poor disciplinary C.H. staff

Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2017 3:14 pm
by sejintenej
Katharine wrote:
sejintenej wrote:
Katharine wrote: If Horsham was anything like Hertford, all the A stream started learning Latin, as it was not known who might be applying to Oxbridge 6 or 7 years later.
In 1953 I was in the D stream (out of A to E) and had two years of Latin.
CH either had great faith in your innate ability to climb the academic ladder, or in their own teaching ability!!
Definitely; they gave up with me after two years. As for their French teacher he got 0 out of 100 when assessed by a French raised SOE instructor.

Perhaps that is why I have a phobia about foreign languages.

Re: Poor disciplinary C.H. staff

Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2017 5:09 pm
by eucsgmrc
sejintenej wrote:I did notice Michael's " te absolvo." above - were the Romans that way inclined or is the French, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian avoidance of the second person singular a recent invention?
I'm trying to stop myself picking nits, but slapping my own wrist doesn't seem to be helping ... so

It's true that French and Spanish and so on do use the plural (vous and so on) to address singular people with due respect, but they do still have "tu" and the like for familiar people. It's English that has adopted the plural "you" for all and sundry, and given up the singular "thou" completely.

Re: Poor disciplinary C.H. staff

Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2017 8:51 am
by sejintenej
eucsgmrc wrote:
sejintenej wrote:I did notice Michael's " te absolvo." above - were the Romans that way inclined or is the French, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian avoidance of the second person singular a recent invention?
I'm trying to stop myself picking nits, but slapping my own wrist doesn't seem to be helping ... so

It's true that French and Spanish and so on do use the plural (vous and so on) to address singular people with due respect, but they do still have "tu" and the like for familiar people. It's English that has adopted the plural "you" for all and sundry, and given up the singular "thou" completely.
John, I did have that in mind (remember I have lived and worked in both countries) but in France even now the tu is used parent to child and seldom the other way round. Between adults it means that they are exceptionally close - where I was there was a bit of a ceremony when you went to tutoyer. In Spain I cannot remember the second person singular being used (though last year they seemed to have lost the third person singular "usted") but then I was never in a very very close family situation and in Brasil (Rio, São Paulo, Minas Gerais) it was not used even between lovers - only 2nd person plral "voce".

In, the case in question I would like to think that Michael did not follow the "other path" hence the question as to whether the ancients used the te as we do in England

Re: Poor disciplinary C.H. staff

Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2017 11:41 am
by time please
Just for the record but in Scandinavia there is the " du" and "ni " where the "ni" is being phased out. In fact one is thought to be somewhat impolite if you use ni.

Re: Poor disciplinary C.H. staff

Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2017 1:59 pm
by time please
J.R. seems by speaking his mind 'upset' some people, but that is not his fault in fact it is the education from CH that is at fault! A post of his nearly eleven years ago makes this plain.

Quote

Postby J.R. » Wed Mar 09, 2005 6:30 pm

'Absolutely detested Prep B. Bullying and all those stupid traditions.

Coleridge B junior dorm was acceptable.

Coleridge B senior dorm was better, but by this time I had learnt to 'buck' the system and had already decided to walk out after 'O' levels, which I did !

The things that Housey DID teach me was respect, comradeship, and the ability to speak my mind, no matter who it upset !

Education ? not too sure, but by the time of exams I had become a complete anachist !

My real love of the school was the band ! Great days out '


I personally in this day and age admire a person who has an opinion and is not afraid to tell others.

Re: Poor disciplinary C.H. staff

Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2017 2:06 pm
by michael scuffil
For the record, 'te absolvo' was the formula used by Catholic priests at the end of confession. I don't think 'vos' was ever used in Latin as a singular, polite or formal or otherwise. The gladiators addressed even the emperor with 'Morituri te salutamus'.

My favourite story of second-person pronouns is German. It involves a trendy but unpopular teacher saying to his sixth-form class:
'Übrigens: ihr dürft mich duzen' [By the way, you can say 'du' to me.]
to which the class rep replied:
'Aber du uns nicht.' ['But you can't say 'du' to us' -- which he had done already, without asking, as 'ihr' is the 'familiar' plural.]

Re: Poor disciplinary C.H. staff

Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2017 4:58 pm
by sejintenej
time please wrote:Just for the record but in Scandinavia there is the " du" and "ni " where the "ni" is being phased out. In fact one is thought to be somewhat impolite if you use ni.
Which "Scandinavian"? I have only known du and ni is the numeral nine ( and just checked that in my dictionary). I accept that due to access difficulties there are multitudinous local patois in Norway.

Got it, I think. I didn't remember your moniker so looked you up and found:

(You)
With a name like that I presume you may at some time lived in Sweden?
(Me)
Nej, i Norge
But at least you recognised the language or tune.

Re: Poor disciplinary C.H. staff

Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2017 5:23 pm
by sejintenej
time please wrote:J.R. seems by speaking his mind 'upset' some people, but that is not his fault in fact it is the education from CH that is at fault! A post of his nearly eleven years ago makes this plain.
Quote
Postby J.R. » Wed Mar 09, 2005 6:30 pm
'Absolutely detested Prep B. Bullying and all those stupid traditions.
Coleridge B junior dorm was acceptable.
Coleridge B senior dorm was better, but by this time I had learnt to 'buck' the system and had already decided to walk out after 'O' levels, which I did !
The things that Housey DID teach me was respect, comradeship, and the ability to speak my mind, no matter who it upset !
Education ? not too sure, but by the time of exams I had become a complete anachist !
My real love of the school was the band ! Great days out '

I personally in this day and age admire a person who has an opinion and is not afraid to tell others.
OK so up to Dep Grecians it was generally hell but after that you started to be treated like (?semi) human. When you get into the outside world job market you start at the bottom being treated like lake scum and you work upwards - after CH you could take it. I'm sure if you went into the armed services you could walk through basic training with your eyes closed. In those days it was said that you had an automatic entry into the H.A.C. (who were Terriers) and if you were ever called up you would automatically get a commission

IMHO all this is OT if not OTT and meat for another thread - moderators please consider, mediate and moderate if mediation fails

Re: Poor disciplinary C.H. staff

Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2017 8:14 pm
by rockfreak
It's all very well Foureyes complaining about Politics taking this site off message - it appears that Latin has taken it off message too.

Re: JR's experiences in Prep B in the fifties, I might be able to fill him in on that period via private message.