Customer Reviews

How to Insult, Abuse & Insinuate in Classical Latin

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Gasp, horror, terror, defilement! My beloved lingua latina, reduced to gutter language! O, Catullus, O Martial, O cruel world - what hast thou donest unto me?

Yep, the book is seriously fantastic. I'm into Latin in a big way, and there's nothing quite as fantastic as that classical beauty and serenity of Latin being applied to the world of public transport and other areas of human depravity. Whether attacking the irritating children of your neighbours ("Mala pituita nasi" or "Nasty nasal drippings!"), your local self-important politican ("Faciem durum cacantis habes", "You have the face of a man with severe constipation") or just that pile of detritus in the car in the other lane ("Immanissimum ac foedissimum monstrum!", "Gross and putrid monster!"), there's nothing quite like the Latin (and English translations) here - all quoted, with citations, from real Latin authors.

You may also want to use it for the opening inscription to your bestselling memoirs: "Nimiast miseria nimis pulchrum esse hominum" - "How unbearably tiresome it is to be handsome!" But whatever your use, you're sure to find the perfect putdown, the sublime slinging, the irreprable insult, for that irritating bug you've been wanting to set right - in Latin from the quaint through to the downright vulgar.

The only remaining question after this vulgarity is, of course, will my retinae ever recover?

I bought this book many years back when I was in High School Latin (Ok, I admit it, my parents got it for me per my request). This was great fun to memorized and quote some of these rather naughty insults in my Latin class, and it was also an aid in learning the grammar and vocabulary. Easily the most quoted author in this book is Marshall, he had a very dirty mouth!
This is a wonderful little book that gives one better insight into not just the history, but the people of classical times. In how people were in every-day life, and it's startling to see how similar we are, but also how different. This is really seen well when some of these abusive sayings are from graffiti.
I can't really say much more about it. This is not a grammar book and will not teach you how to have a cruel discourse with your fellow Latinate. However, it is useful in expanding your vocabulary and, all-in-all, a fun read.
If you're interested in the mroe devilish side of Latin, then I definitely recommend this book! It will titillate the senses and broaden your horizons, exposing you to more than just the usual books and speeches most of us are used to seeing.

Age. Fac ut gaudeam! (Go ahead. Make my day!)

Michelle Lovric and Nikiforos Doxiadia Mardas, How to Insult, Abuse, and Insinuate in Classical Latin (Barnes and Noble, 2004)

Exactly what it claims to be: a tome on how to insult, abuse, and insinuate in classical Latin. A compendium of quotes (bilingually presented, of course) from ancient Roman authors, poets, and statesmen of questionable taste. The translation is necessarily loose in places (and loose in others for humor's sake), but still. It's fun to insult someone and not have them understand a word of it. ****