X-Treme Latin: All the Latin You Need to Know for Survival in the 21st Century (Paperback)

~ Henry Beard (Author)
Key Phrases: Julius Caesar

Editorial Reviews

Review

First prize for devilish translating. -- The Economist

Henry Beard is a national treasure . . . fine stuff. -- The Baltimore Sun

It’s perfect for these bickering times. -- The Dallas Morning News

Product Description

The master of American wit—whose books have sold more than four million copies combined—delivers a hilarious handbook of Latin phrases for saying what’s really on your mind, without any consequences.

In staff meetings and singles bars, on freeways and fairways, there are aggravating people lurking everywhere these days. But bestselling humorist Henry Beard has the perfect comeback for all prickly situations, offering a slew of quips your nemesis won’t soon forget . . . or even understand.

Beard’s gift is his ability to make fun of popular culture and the current zeitgeist. In X-Treme Latin he provides Latin with an attitude, an indispensable phrasebook that taps the secret power of Latin to deliver, in total safety, hundreds of impeccable put-downs, comebacks, and wisecracks. Within its pages you will learn how to insult or fire coworkers; blame corporate scandals on someone else; cheer at a World Wrestling Entertainment match; talk back to your computer, TV, or Game Boy; deal with your road rage; evade threatening situations; snowboard in style; talk like Tony Soprano; and much more.

With dozens more zingers for quashing e-mail pranks, psyching out your golf opponent, giving backhanded compliments, and evading awkward questions, X-Treme Latin is destined for magnus popularity and will have readers cheering, "Celebremus!"

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Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Gotham; Blg Rep edition (March 7, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 159240104X
• ISBN-13: 978-1592401048
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #295,467 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars fantastic for Latin geeks worldwide, December 28, 2005

By	C. O'ROURKE (England) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book would be funny for those just learning Latin because the English translations are funny. For those who know a fair amount of Latin the laughs are doubled as you read the English then work through the vocabulary chosen to express the sentiment in Latin! Contains countless phrases to be turned into t-shirts for your Latin geek friends and relatives

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a very funny introductory text, September 18, 2005

By	Will De Vere (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews

This book is great fun: a wildly anachronistic introduction to Latin for C.21. It's very small and would make a handy minor present. It also has unusual illustrations that seem appropriate.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Henricus Barbatus alium callidum libellum scripsit, November 25, 2007

By	A. Silverstone (Durham, NC USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Woe to this world if Henry Beard ever had to get a desk job. He is a brilliant humorist, who, in recent years, has allowed those of us who slogged through Cicero's speeches, Virgil's Aeneid and Caesar's Gallic Wars to enjoy a hearty laugh. X-Treme Latin is the third in the trilogy of Latin for All Occasions and Latin for Even More Occasions. Now, we are finally able to learn some really useful phrases and lines that would have been unthinkable (not to mention unvocabulariable) 21 centuries ago. Where else would you find snow-boarding lingo, country music song titles, and sushi bar discussions - all in Latin. If this is not proof that the language should have been allowed its respectful last gasps, I don't know what is. Of course, those of us who are corporate desk jockeys will also enjoy Caesar's PowerPoint Presentation. Until you see this book, you don't know how you could have lived without it (probably, pretty nicely, but that is really beside the point). Nevertheless, no longer will doctors, lawyers, and the Vatican have the upper hand when it comes to clever retorts in Latin after you read this book.