A number of local councils in Britain have banned their staff from using Latin words, because they say they might confuse people.
Several local authorities have ruled that phrases like “vice versa”, “pro rata”, and even “via” should not be used, in speech or in writing.
But the ban has prompted anger among some Latin scholars.
Professor Mary Beard of Cambridge University said it was the linguistic equivalent of ethnic cleansing.
Some local councils say using Latin is elitist and discriminatory, because some people might not understand it - particularly if English is not their first language.
Bournemouth Council is the latest local authority to draw up a list of nineteen phrases which its staff are no longer allowed to use, either verbally or in official correspondence.
Other local councils have banned “QED” and “ad hoc”, while other typical Latin terms include “bona fide”, “ad lib” and “quid pro quo”.
But the move has been welcomed by the Plain English Campaign which says some officials only use Latin to make themselves feel important.
A Campaign spokesman said the ban might stop people confusing the Latin abbreviation e.g. with the word “egg”.
Nobody will be earning a salary anymore, though they won’t be able to testify to that. I wonder what they will call the planets now, not to mention which calendar they’re going to switch to. And what will they call themselves? Bretannic seems to go all the way back to Aristotle, and the Romans used Britannia an awful lot. I guess they’re just not going to be British anymore as that might confuse people.
I wonder what Queen Elizabeth 2 will have to say about this.
hmm
(some of these might be acceptible because the latin version is slightly different)
again, just a small list.
Nausea (Nauseam)
Referendum
Library (libris)
Bible
Art (artis)
Bona Fide
Carpe Diem
Caveat Emptor
Corpse (Corpus)
Cathedral (Catherdra)
Office (officio)
Post
Fact (facto)
Flagrant (Flagrante)
Regina
Absent (absentia)
Posterior (posteriori)
Camera
Extreme (Extremis)
Infinitum
Parent (Parentis)
Memoriam
In Situ
Status Quo
Terror (Terrorem)
In toto
In Utero
In Vitro
Party (Partes)
Non Sequitur
Optimal (Optimus)
Accident (accidens)
Per Annum
Per Capita
Consequence (Consequens)
Contra
Per Se
Post Mortem
Mea Culpa
Post Script (Post Scriptum)
Prima Facie
Pro Forma
Tempo
Quid Pro Quo
Tyrant (Tyranis)
Misery (Miseri)
Sub Rosa
Tempus Fugit
Ultimatum
Viz
Well, “gymnasium” and “tyrant” are Greek and “bible” Phoenician; they’re not getting around to picking on those languages yet, Sharruma.
I can see how somebody who is constantly using some of the more obscure Latin phrases (“absens haeres non erit”, for example) would be an annoyance at meetings, especially if they’re doing it just to show off. But all these phrases are actually part of our English language, even if they were originally from a different language. I think it would be better to teach people what those words mean rather than to stop people who do know what they mean. It seems sort of a lazy way out.
“The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don’t just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.”
- James D. Nicoll
“English is the result of Norman men-at-arms attempting to pick up Saxon barmaids and is no more legitimate than any of the other results.”
- H. Beam Piper
