Latin for the Illiterati: Exorcizing the Ghosts of a Dead Language

"Latin forms an integral part of our daily lives," says Dr. Jon R. Stone, "and its use is foundational to our major branches of knowledge from law and medicine to literature and commerce." _Latin for the Illiterati: Exorcizing the Ghosts of a Dead Language_ is a personal reading list of terms that the author encountered in his days as a graduate student. As such, it is a good reference book to keep on hand for looking up basic Latin words or Latinate expressions. Compared to Dr. Eugene Ehrlich's _Amo, Amas, Amat and More_ and _Veni, Vidi, Vici_, this book is not as humorous. Further, Dr. Stone has taken the excellent _Cassell's Latin-English/English-Latin Dictionary_ as a guide and added his own parenthetical translations. _Latin for the Illiterati_ is like a phrase book, except it is for a "dead" language. If one wants to learn Latin, then _Wheelock's Latin_ is the best. The penultimate reference book for Latin is the _Oxford Latin Dictionary_ [OLD]. However, Dr. Stone's handbook is quite comprehensive: 6,000 entries, with 300 abbreviations; geographical place names, colors, calendar months and days, and Roman numerals (written out); an English-Latin index, (which is not as useful as the Latin-English section); and a quite good guide to Latin pronunciation. (It really is "weenie," "weedie," weekie.") The Latin-English section has two parts, with listings in alphabetical order: "common words and expressions" and "common phrases and sayings." I recommend this book for people who read books on philosophy or religion; for crossword puzzle fanatics; and for those whose work or worship includes the use of Latin.

This is a book which might well bore the serious student of Latin for whom it was not written. It serves well those who have never studied Latin: here you can find those maddening phrases which appear in literature, tombstone epitaphs, legal documents, medical records, etc. Anyone who reads will find this book a ~sine qua non~.

No explinations or verb conjugations in this book. Just tons of latin phrases and their meanings. Short book with A LOT of information. Not a Latin training guide by any means. Entirely a reference. But after reading through this book I feel like I have a much better understanding of the _English_ language. I'm amazed at the how many Latin terms and phrases are already familiar to me.This book gives you an understanding of Latin and English roots in a very short time. You won't be writing any Latin though. Unless a simple "Et tu Brute?" will suffice.Tony

As a reference its cumbersome. Phrases from medicine, law, philosophy are abundant but dispersed and disorder. It did help my vocabulary.The english-latin section is innovative.

In the nineteenth century an educated person had more than a smattering of Latin and Greek, and everyone wrote with this presumption. Today most of us have not had that advantage, yet Latin, in particular, keeps popping up in all sorts of places, from decals on police cars to cigarette packages. Now you decipher not only these, but abbreviations (e.g., i.e.), Roman numerals, common words and expressions, familiar phrases and sayings, and more, with over 5,000 entries in this handy volume. Its one glaring lack is a pronunciation guide, as spoken Latin has some stresses which are not apparent. Very useful nevertheless, and recommended. (The numerical rating above is an ineradicable feature of the page. This reviewer does not employ numrical ratings.)