- Carletoniensis
- This is a fairly standard 3rd declension adjective, meaning "of or having
to do with Carleton." The Carleton in this case is Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota,
USA. The only other notable thing about this word is that it contains a silent
e, lest it be completely impossible to use in poetry.
- claudicus, -a, -um
- This adjective was coined by Justin Mansfield, to mean "pertaining to
limping." It actually is listed in Alexander Souter's "A Glossary of LATER
LATIN to 600 A.D." as a word used by "Chiron." If anyone has good info on
Chiron, please let me know.
- ensis Syracosius
- The "Syracusean sword" is simply the sword of Damocles. Damocles, a good
Syracusean citizen, remarked to his king (whose name I have forgotten for the
moment) that the life of the king must be very easy. The king had Damocles
fed and entertained for a day, but had a sword suspended over his head. The
comparison with my comps, I must admit, is not a great one.
- hora prima, secunda, etc.
- The Romans, since they had no electric clocks, set up their system of
measuring time based on the sun. Therefore, the Roman hour is six hours
different from the standard used nowadays. The first hour of the day goes from
6:00 am to 7:00 am, the second from 7:00 to 8:00, and so on.
- omnifer carrus
- "All-carrying cart," i.e. a public bus. I wanted to keep a classical feel to
the poem, and this is a satisfactory way of doing so. The adjective
omnifer can also be interpreted to apply to labor.
- solitatus
- This is the perfect participle of solito, which is the iterative
form (formed by adding -it-) of soleo, to be accustomed to. I
originally formed this myself, but then I checked the Oxford Latin Dictionary
and there it was.
- Vidalius, -a, -um
- Pertaining to Vidalia, a city in
Marc Moskowitz's home state of Georgia which is known for the large, sweet
onions produced in its soil.
Last Modified April 4, 1997/Mut. prox. prid. Non. Apr., MCMXCVII C.E.
Maintained by Marc Moskowitz/marc@suberic.net