Funny English and Linguistics stuff...

[BlackBlade]

Is Cicero really pronounced with a K sound not an S?

In Classical Latin, yes. C and g always represented "hard" consonants. In Vulgar Latin (the immediate ancestor of the Romance languages) these palatalized before front vowels to produce the "soft" c and g that we're familiar with.

Ick! On the one hand I've been hearing the name wrong in my head for years, I don't think I've had occasion to use it. On the other hand Kickero? That sounds dreadful, Sissero sounds nice.

[Jonathon]

What do you mean, you've been hearing it wrong? Unless you're studying Classical Latin, the anglicized pronunciation, which is based on the Vulgar Latin one, is the "right" one. Same with other Latin names and words. In Classical Latin, Cæsar was pronounced much like the modern German Kaiser, which is based on the Classical form and preserves its pronunciation (though it modifies it to fit German spelling), and when he came, saw, and conquered, he pronounced it like "Weni, widi, wiki."

[BlackBlade]

What do you mean, you've been hearing it wrong? Unless you're studying Classical Latin, the anglicized pronunciation, which is based on the Vulgar Latin one, is the "right" one. Same with other Latin names and words. In Classical Latin, Cæsar was pronounced much like the modern German Kaiser, which is based on the Classical form and preserves its pronunciation (though it modifies it to fit German spelling), and when he came, saw, and conquered, he pronounced it like "Weni, widi, wiki."

I'm conflicted a little bit. On the one hand when a word is clearly part of another language I like to use their pronounciation. Iraq with an "awe" sound not an "a" (as in apple) sound. I know next to nothing about Classical Latin and Vulgar Latin, so I'm still forming opinions on the matter now that you have brought that distinction to my attention.

[Marianne Dashwood]

What do you mean, you've been hearing it wrong? Unless you're studying Classical Latin, the anglicized pronunciation, which is based on the Vulgar Latin one, is the "right" one. Same with other Latin names and words. In Classical Latin, Cæsar was pronounced much like the modern German Kaiser, which is based on the Classical form and preserves its pronunciation (though it modifies it to fit German spelling), and when he came, saw, and conquered, he pronounced it like "Weni, widi, wiki."

I'm conflicted a little bit. On the one hand when a word is clearly part of another language I like to use their pronounciation. Iraq with an "awe" sound not an "a" (as in apple) sound. I know next to nothing about Classical Latin and Vulgar Latin, so I'm still forming opinions on the matter now that you have brought that distinction to my attention.

Well, you can't pronounce everything the way native speakers pronounce it or English speakers wouldn't understand you. How do you pronounce Confucius?

[Jonathon]

I think that's a good guideline: pronounce things in a way that's most widely acceptable to the speakers you're talking to. Sometimes the acceptability of certain pronunciation changes (for example, EYE-talian and AY-rab are pretty unacceptable nowadays), but the form closest to the original is not always the best.

[BlackBlade]

What do you mean, you've been hearing it wrong? Unless you're studying Classical Latin, the anglicized pronunciation, which is based on the Vulgar Latin one, is the "right" one. Same with other Latin names and words. In Classical Latin, Cæsar was pronounced much like the modern German Kaiser, which is based on the Classical form and preserves its pronunciation (though it modifies it to fit German spelling), and when he came, saw, and conquered, he pronounced it like "Weni, widi, wiki."

I'm conflicted a little bit. On the one hand when a word is clearly part of another language I like to use their pronounciation. Iraq with an "awe" sound not an "a" (as in apple) sound. I know next to nothing about Classical Latin and Vulgar Latin, so I'm still forming opinions on the matter now that you have brought that distinction to my attention.

Well, you can't pronounce everything the way native speakers pronounce it or English speakers wouldn't understand you. How do you pronounce Confucius?

Kong Zi?

[Marianne Dashwood]

Ah, but Kong Zi himself didn't speak modern Mandarin. Also, in Dalu they call him Fu Zi.

[BlackBlade]

Ah, but Kong Zi himself didn't speak modern Mandarin. Also, in Dalu they call him Fu Zi.

Well they are idiots in Dalu. Oh man I went there!

[Marianne Dashwood]

1.3 billion people can't be wrong …

[Neutros the Radioactive Dragon]

Well, they can be wrong. I just wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of their ire if I was the one to point out that they were.

[BlackBlade]

1.3 billion people can't be wrong …

Pretty certain all approximately 6 billion human being wandering about today can be wrong simultaneously.

[Porter]

I have serious doubts that 1.3 billion people can be right about anything.

[Neutros the Radioactive Dragon]

I have serious doubts that 1.3 billion people can be right about anything.

This.

[Marianne Dashwood]

Food. They're right about food.

[Porter]

Because when given the choice, we almost always choose the best food for our needs. 

[Jonathon]

More like, when given the choice, we almost always choose food over not food.

[Marianne Dashwood]

No, see, it's that they eat Chinese food every day. What better choice could there be?

[BlackBlade]

More like, when given the choice, we almost always choose food over not food.

Did any of you see that church video where a man's car breaks down, he wanders off into a ghost town, sees a pump that doesn't work, and then reads instructions that he needs to "just prime the pump" with a bottle of water hidden nearby. He is tempted by the water readily available, rather than the promise of endless water from the pump all while the voice keeps saying over and over more and more menacingly, "just prime the pump!". It ends with him collapsing from exhaustion soon after, and the camera shows an empty bottle which clues us in as to his decision, and finally they show a few drops dripping from the pump.

It was really creepy.

[Marianne Dashwood]

My favorite is the one about the rattlesnake and the Indian boy. Once my friend told me I was weird and I told her "You knew what I was when you picked me up."

[BlackBlade]

My favorite is the one about the rattlesnake and the Indian boy. Once my friend told me I was weird and I told her "You knew what I was when you picked me up."

Ha! I try to drop that line every other year or so, when in the company of Mormons.

[Marianne Dashwood]

I always thought it would be funny to use on a date.

[BlackBlade]

I always thought it would be funny to use on a date.

And you still can! >: )

[rivka]

My favorite is the one about the rattlesnake and the Indian boy. Once my friend told me I was weird and I told her "You knew what I was when you picked me up."

Is this like the story of the fox and the scorpion?

[BlackBlade]

My favorite is the one about the rattlesnake and the Indian boy. Once my friend told me I was weird and I told her "You knew what I was when you picked me up."

Is this like the story of the fox and the scorpion?

I've never heard the one about the fox and scorpion.

In short, a boy climbing on a mountain finds a snake he knows to be poisonous. The snake asks the boy to please place him in his shirt and carry him down the mountain or else he would die in the cold. The boy complies, and as he reaches the warmer lower altitude and takes the snake out of his shirt, the snake bites him.  The boy in shock says to the snake, "Why did you do that, I just saved your life!" and the snake replies, "You knew what I was when you picked me up."

Similar fable?

[BlackBlade]

Rivka: It appears to be the same moral.
The Scorpion and the Frog. A common variation has a fox.