tetigisti-ing the rem acu
Kurt & Nancy Harris
Latin (I presume):
"I agreed with him that he had tetigisti-ed the rem acu."
I know this is derived from 'rem acu tetigisti,' but for those of us who
were born too late to have been given a full education in these ancient
tongues, please give us the grammar of this puzzling phrase.
And while you're at it, would someone be so good as to explain the meaning
of this other item I came across in Aunts Aren't Gentlemen: "He would be at
the starting post at three pip emma on the morrow."
puzzled,
the pink chap
Neil Midkiff
Kurt & Nancy Harris <har...@singnet.com.sg> wrote:
:Can someone out there please elucidate this little piece of tampered-with
:Latin (I presume):
:"I agreed with him that he had tetigisti-ed the rem acu."
:I know this is derived from 'rem acu tetigisti,' but for those of us who
:were born too late to have been given a full education in these ancient
:tongues, please give us the grammar of this puzzling phrase.
Rem is the accusative (functioning as the object of the verb) of "res"
which is a nicely abstract noun meaning "thing, object, matter,
situation, case, affair" etc.
Acu is the ablative case (if I understand it properly, here meaning in
a causal or instrumental relation to the verb) of "acus" meaning
needle or pin. So "acu" means "by a needle" or "with a needle".
Tetigisti is a conjugated form of the verb "tango" (touch), in the
second person singular perfect indicative active: "you have touched".
The phrase "rem acu tetigisti" then means "you have touched the matter
with a needle" literally, or "you've pinpointed the essence of the
situation," "you've hit the nail on the head," "you've put your finder
on the nub" more colloquially.
Bertie has tried to manhandle the phrase into a different word-order
(which Latin doesn't mind), a different tense (which matters) and a
different person (which also matters). When the subject is "he" (3rd
person singular) the perfect indicative active is "tetigit" (he has
touched), but the pluperfect (he HAD touched) becomes "tetigerat" if
I'm reading the tables correctly.
And of course, even "he had tetigerat-ed" would be a redundancy since
the equivalent of the "he had" and the "-ed" are wrapped up in the
"-erat" suffix in the Latin.
:And while you're at it, would someone be so good as to explain the meaning
:of this other item I came across in Aunts Aren't Gentlemen: "He would be at
:the starting post at three pip emma on the morrow."
"Pip" and "emma" are words used as a spoken code for single letters
for use in radio or telephone transmissions when simply saying a single
letter might be misunderstood. They stand for "p" and "m"
respectively, so "3 p.m. tomorrow" is what is meant by the phrase.
In this particular code, which I believe dates from World War One in
Britain, "a" is pronounced "ack", so you'll see "ack emma" for "a.m."
elsewhere. (Hence "ack-ack" for "a.-a.", that is, anti-aircraft gunfire.)
Other similar word-for-letter systems were used in Britain and America
in World War Two; "Alpha Bravo Coca" and "Able Baker Charlie" started
two of them off, if I'm remembering correctly.
-Neil Midkiff
Neil Midkiff
Neil Midkiff <mid...@netcom.com> wrote:
:The phrase "rem acu tetigisti" then means "you have touched the matter
:with a needle" literally, or "you've pinpointed the essence of the
:situation," "you've hit the nail on the head," "you've put your finder
:on the nub" more colloquially.
Of course the word should have been "finger".
Real Latin scholars may, and should, jump all over me if I've made
more substantive errors. I don't pretend to be an expert classicist,
just a bloke with a dictionary.
-Neil Midkiff
Kurt & Nancy Harris
do you eat a lot of fish?
the pink chap
Neil Midkiff <mid...@netcom.com> wrote in message
news:8kbh66$8p3$1...@slb7.atl.mindspring.net...
> In article <8kbc6b$7rc$1...@mango.singnet.com.sg>,
> Kurt & Nancy Harris <har...@singnet.com.sg> wrote:
> :Can someone out there please elucidate this little piece of tampered-with
> :Latin (I presume):
> :"I agreed with him that he had tetigisti-ed the rem acu."
> :I know this is derived from 'rem acu tetigisti,' but for those of us who
> :were born too late to have been given a full education in these ancient
> :tongues, please give us the grammar of this puzzling phrase.
>
> Rem is the accusative (functioning as the object of the verb) of "res"
> which is a nicely abstract noun meaning "thing, object, matter,
> situation, case, affair" etc.
>
> Acu is the ablative case (if I understand it properly, here meaning in
> a causal or instrumental relation to the verb) of "acus" meaning
> needle or pin. So "acu" means "by a needle" or "with a needle".
>
> Tetigisti is a conjugated form of the verb "tango" (touch), in the
> second person singular perfect indicative active: "you have touched".
>
> The phrase "rem acu tetigisti" then means "you have touched the matter
> with a needle" literally, or "you've pinpointed the essence of the
> situation," "you've hit the nail on the head," "you've put your finder
> on the nub" more colloquially.
>
The Mixer
>>
> (snip admirable, albeit head-spinning lesson in Latin grammar)
> The phrase "rem acu tetigisti" then means "you have touched the matter
> with a needle" literally, or "you've pinpointed the essence of the
> situation," "you've hit the nail on the head," "you've put your finder
> on the nub" more colloquially.
I believe it also, like most of Bertie's mangled Latin tags, is a quote
from the scribblings of one of those big-brained birds who went about
the place wearing togas and getting pie-eyed on Falernian wine.
Lucretius perhaps? Possibly Plautus?
As one who thinks the classics began with W.S. Gilbert and ended with
P.G. Wodehouse, I'll leave it to someone else to do a little rec acu
tetigisti-ing by identifying the source.
The Mixer
KHParghi
Midkiff ol' chap,
Are you related to Jeeves or did you win the Scripture Knowledge Prize in Grade
School? I had deduced so much at the Houston Convention (one or the other).
Thou art a walking Encylopedia. What size hat do you wear? Do you eat a lot
of fish? It must be the phosphorus.
Holmes
Subject: Re: tetigisti-ing the rem acu
From: mid...@netcom.com (Neil Midkiff)
Date: 7/9/00 8:50 PM US Mountain Standard Time
Message-id: <8kbh66$8p3$1...@slb7.atl.mindspring.net>
In article <8kbc6b$7rc$1...@mango.singnet.com.sg>,
Kurt & Nancy Harris <har...@singnet.com.sg> wrote:
:Can someone out there please elucidate this little piece of tampered-with
:Latin (I presume):
:"I agreed with him that he had tetigisti-ed the rem acu."
:I know this is derived from 'rem acu tetigisti,' but for those of us who
:were born too late to have been given a full education in these ancient
:tongues, please give us the grammar of this puzzling phrase.
Rem is the accusative (functioning as the object of the verb) of "res"
which is a nicely abstract noun meaning "thing, object, matter,
situation, case, affair" etc.
Acu is the ablative case (if I understand it properly, here meaning in
a causal or instrumental relation to the verb) of "acus" meaning
needle or pin. So "acu" means "by a needle" or "with a needle".
Tetigisti is a conjugated form of the verb "tango" (touch), in the
second person singular perfect indicative active: "you have touched".
The phrase "rem acu tetigisti" then means "you have touched the matter
with a needle" literally, or "you've pinpointed the essence of the
situation," "you've hit the nail on the head," "you've put your finder
on the nub" more colloquially.
Bertie has tried to manhandle the phrase into a different word-order
alan_d_...@my-deja.com
The Mixer <ian_m...@bc.sympatico.ca> wrote:
<snip>
> As one who thinks the classics began with W.S. Gilbert and ended with
> P.G. Wodehouse, I'll leave it to someone else to do a little rec acu
> tetigisti-ing by identifying the source.
>
> The Mixer
>
What ho, old canine;
"Rem acu tetigisti" certainly sounds like it ought to be a quote;
Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable attributes it to Plautus'
_Rudens_, Act V, scene ii, line 19. But, checking the text, what
Labrax actually says there is simply "Tetigisti acu."
Ta!
Le Vicomte de Blissac
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Augustus Fink-Nottle
>"Rem acu tetigisti" certainly sounds like it ought to be a quote;
>Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable attributes it to Plautus'
>_Rudens_, Act V, scene ii, line 19. But, checking the text, what
>Labrax actually says there is simply "Tetigisti acu."
>Le Vicomte de Blissac
Like the chappie once said, "Whats in a rem?"
- Gussie
Tim Palmer
says...
Much that is learned about
>Rem
>Acu
and
>Tetigisti
So much, in fact, that his scholarship should be acknowledged. I say we
award him the nom de Plum of the Revd Aubrey Upjohn, unless of course it is
already taken.
It was just like the Latin lesson over writing 'Romans go home' on the walls
in Monty Python's Life of Brian.
Sir Gregory Parsloe Parsloe Bart
robert brooks
On Friday, July 14, 2000 at 3:00:00 AM UTC-4, Tim Palmer wrote:
> In article