Customer Reviews

Amo, Amas, Amat and More (Hudson Group Books)

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An informative and fun book! The author includes hundreds of Latin mottoes, sayings, bon mots, and proverbs. They are ordered alphabetically, each followed by its pronunciation (in an informal but generally useful transcription), and general sense. Most of the entries have an explanatory sentence or two, giving the background, source, and literal translation. A fun and educational book; helpful to the student of Latin, and entertaining and educational to the general reader. Well worth the money!

Eugene Ehrlich's 'Amo, Amas, Amat and More' is a wonderful shorthand guide to Latin literacy for those who are struggling with Latin, or those of us who had a lot of Latin but little use since our last conjugation, er, um, examination.

Gives new meaning to 'conjugal visit' now, doesn't it? (Well, look it up for the distinctions.)

There is a very interesting introduction by William F. Buckley, Jr., who has been known to drop the odd Latinate phrase here or there in writing or speech. 'I suppose I am asked [to write this introduction] because the few Latin phrases I am comfortable with I tend to use without apology,' Buckley writes. He uses Latin phrases, he says, 'that cling to life because they seem to perform useful duties without any challenger rising up to take their place in English.' But, Buckley states, 'Probably the principal Latin-killer this side of the Huns was Vatican II.' With the end of use of Latin by Roman Catholic church, Latin became an almost exclusively academic pursuit, and then most often in 'useful' segments--i.e., legal Latin, medical Latin, etc.

This book is arranged as an encyclopedic dictionary of sorts -- there is an entry, including pronunciation (do you know if Latin uses a hard c or hard g, for instance, without looking?). Ehrlich also puts in literary examples of how the Latin phrase has come to be known in English (which is sometimes something apart from its original Latin meaning).

I give you the example used in my title as an sample entry:

carpe diem
KAHR-peh DEE-em
enjoy, enjoy

This famous advice, literally 'seize the day', is from Horace's Odes. The full thought is carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero (kwahm MIH-nih-muum KRAY-duu-lah PAW-ster-oh), which may be translated as 'enjoy today, trusting little in tomorrow'. Thus, carpe diem from ancient times until the present has been advice often and variously expressed: Enjoy yourself while you have the chance; eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die; make hay while the sun shines; enjoy yourself, it's later than you think. In another century carpe diem was also an exhortation to maidens to give up their virginity and enjoy all the pleasures of life.

Robert Herrick (1591-1674)
Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying,
And this same flower that smiles today
Tomorrow will be dying.

So, if your motto is omne ignotum pro magnifico est a la Tacitus, and you'd like a little less unknown in your life, or simply wish to amaze your friends, this book is for you. I'm not the advocatus diaboli here, and I certainly won't give this book the pollice verso, so rush to your nearest scriptorium now and find this scroll, er, um, book.

Latin is in baby! This book is basically"The Wit and Wisdom of Ancient Rome" presented in English and Latin. It's full of short snappy quotes that you can drop whenever a line from Shakespeare might seem trite. It's not a text or manual but it can be used in classrooms to mix things up a bit. The ancient Romans were funny at times and students can appreciate this. Let your students go over this book and then have them translate current phrases into Latin.I recommend this to anyone who likes or teaches ancient history or the latin language.

Why take years of Latin study? All you need to add flair to your conversation are are few Latin phrases. Here are hundreds! Take it "cum grano salis" (with a grain of salt) or get into it seriously. Not a textbook but a tool to make our pithy chatter sound profound. -jp-

Amo, Amas Amat, and More by Eugene Ehrlich is a fun phrase book of Latin. This is a great book for students learning Latin or just to have around for when you get that phrase thrown at you when reading and you just can't quite remember what it really means.

Accurate pronunciations and notes are throughout the book giving the reader a firm footing on what the phrase means and the context. An excellent book to augment your reference section of your home library... definitely a book for wordsmiths.

A book for all to have and use...

This book can be used for many things. I like to e-mail people at work and finish with a Latin phrase, which makes them think 'he's smart'! (or a smart ar#e!)
There are many books on Latin, but this one is just full of phrase's that 'Stiff' text books would take a week to work out, like 'Patris est filius' or 'A chip off the old block' (literally - 'he is his father's son'). Just as good for a quick flick or end to end reading!
p.s. Another good book is 'Veni, Vidi, Vici' ISBN 0-06-273365-6 also by Eugene Ehrlich (the better of the 2, i think).

That quote, from this book, was developed for me personally: I know everything worth knowing, and more!

A practical little book, although it would help if you have a few years of high school Latin to speed up the process of using the phrases in the best possible context. If you have to write a lot of presentations or topical articles, this book is great value.

This book is just full of all those latin phrases you hear or read and pretend to understand. It tells you their english equivalents, and gives examples of usage so you can become one of those annoying intilectuals who knows what te moritori salutante means. The Webster's of latin phrases.

Latin is in baby! This book is basically"The Wit and Wisdom of Ancient Rome" presented in English and Latin. It's full of short snappy quotes that you can drop whenever a line from Shakespeare might seem trite. It's not a text or manual but it can be used in classrooms to mix things up a bit. The ancient Romans were funny at times and students can appreciate this. Let your students go over this book and then have them translate current phrases into Latin.I recommend this to anyone who likes or teaches ancient history or the latin language.