Latin Phrases & Quotations [Paperback]

Richard A. Branyon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1994 | ISBN-10: 0781802601 | ISBN-13: 978-0781802604 | Edition: Revised

This compendium of 4,250 Latin phrases and quotations will clarify previously encountered phrases and introduce a plethora of new ones. It is an easy-to-use source book that bridges the gap between the standard Latin dictionary and the college desk dictionary, with its smattering of Latin expressions. Drawing from more than two thousand years of Western literature, Latin Phrases & Quotations enables the reader to gain a higher level of appreciation of Western civilization, and a deeper feeling for the context in which a particular phrase is quoted. It is an indispensible reference work for students, writers, public speakers and legal professionals, or anyone interested in the apropos and pithy quote. Appendices include: a list of the major Latin writers and their works, one hundred fifty most common Latin phrases, and one hundred fifty most popular Latin quotations.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, Latin

About the Author

Richard A Branyon

Product Details

• Paperback: 260 pages
• Publisher: Hippocrene Books; Revised edition (January 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0781802601
• ISBN-13: 978-0781802604
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #377,041 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #65 in Books > Education & Reference > Foreign Language Nonfiction > Latin

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Little Knowledge IS A Good Thing, February 14, 2010

By 

Don Reed "Don" (Cliffside Park NJ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Latin Phrases & Quotations (Paperback)

Not that I have studied Latin - not even for a day - but who can resist a book that reminds you that "Male parta male dilabuntur" - "Things obtained by evil are lost by evil"?

(Or as we say after the 9th race - on that long train ride home from Belmont Park: "Oh, well - evil come, evil go.")

It's also been useful for: "The [New York] Post in those days was owned by Dorothy Schiff... [It] was...lacking in the razz-matazz of the News & the Mirror...the News [had]... memorable headlines."

One had to do with a court case involving Gloria Vanderbilt, who was in California at the time she was expected to appear in New York to testify. She had taken sick, however, & had to postpone her appearance.

The News' headline:

"Sick Gloria In Transit Monday,"

This was a pun on "Sic Gloria Transit Mundi" ("Thus passes the glory of the world"). It was nice to have access to LPQ to be able to refer to the actual, unpunned phrase.

(The New York Daily News' Earl King's best headline also rates reverent mention. When the News theatre critic panned the Broadway musical, "Hotel Saigon, King found a new use for the anti-Vietnam war protester chant: "Hell No, We Won't Go.")

This concludes the least reverent review of any book having to do with the study of the language spoken by the ancient Romans. See you at the Coliseum!

(The one in Rome; the one in New York is long gone - although the Augustic pretensions of the current Time Warner executives, whose corporate headquarters now occupies the site of the former Empire State Coliseum, are roughly comparable to those of the former rulers of the Roman Mediterranean empire. Pay tribute as you enter the building through its gleaming revolving doors, as you would have in Rome in 100 AD, ascending its now-ancient marble steps.)

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars No frills, December 24, 2008

By 

E. Cho "echomyst" (Petaluma, CA, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Latin Phrases & Quotations (Paperback)

It is what it claims to be -- a book of Latin phrases and quotations.

Clean layout. The English translations are accurate (as far as I know) and easy to understand. Packed with the most frequently used Latin phrases.

The appendices of mottoes, major Greek writers, common Latin phrases, etc. are a nice touch.

It'd be useful to have an index of English -- or even Latin -- keywords in future editions.

12 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Easy to Understand, June 23, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Latin Phrases & Quotations (Paperback)

This is an exiteing book for the person who just wants to get the basics. It is comprehensible and easy to understand.