NavList:

My wife and I have been navigating Latin dictionaries and grammars, and in an attempt to keep the discussion about navigation, I have changed the thread name.

Carborundum was originally a trade name. The substance, silicon carbide, was patented in 1893. Perhaps the inventor wedded carbon to corundum, a hard compound of silicon already known. Coincidentally in about the same year, it was discovered as a rare natural mineral. So we cannot have "carborundum", and anyway we have no need of it, since the perfectly good Latin verb "molendare", to grind, has existed since classical times.

As the Wikepedia article points out, we cannot have illegitemi either, since if it meant anything in classical times, it meant "illegal". "Nothus" seems to be the best term for "bastard", but it is not known (at least, not by our dictionaries) whether it was a derogatory term in Latin. "Permittere" has to be followed by a dative, so the complete phrase becomes:

"Noli nothis te molendare permittere " or, in the plural "Nolite nothis vos molendare permittere," putting the main verb at the end for a bit of classical elegance.

My wife has agreed to take all blame for any inaccuracies in this statement ;-).

Bill Morris
Pukenui
New Zealand
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