Careful we don't want to start one group v another...
John Mc
Sent from my iPhone
On 09/06/2009, at 20:53, "L&L Knight" <> wrote:
> In the interests of relevance, perhaps the erudite members of group
> might like to open a discussion of the Latin and Greek roots of
> ornithological discourse ...
>
> On 09/06/2009, at 8:43 PM, Scot Mcphee wrote:
>
> >
> > I just want to add that this habit for the abbreviation of Latin
> > terms is not an English phenomenon at all either. Its usage dates
> > from classical Latin itself, particularly that found in monumental
> > epigraphy. A typical inscription that you might find on an altar for
> > example as this one found at Maryport:
> >
> > I O M
> > COH I HISP EQ
> > CVI PRAEEST
> > L ANTISTIVS L F
> > QVIRINA LVPUS
> > VERIANVS PRAEF
> > DOMV SICCA
> > EX AFRICA
> >
> > In Latin, this is "Iupitter Optimus Maximus Cohors Primae Hispanorum
> > Equitata Cui Praeest Lucius Antistius Lucius Filius Quirina Lupus
> > Verianus Praefectus Domu Sicca Ex Africa", or in English: "To
> > Jupiter Best and Greatest, the First Cohort of Spaniards, part-
> > mounted, under the command of the Prefect Lucius Antistius Lupus
> > Verianus, son of Lucius, of the Quirine voting tribe, from Sicca in
> > Africa (set this up)". (set this up) is meant but not written even
> > in the Latin.
> >
> > The Roman god "Jupiter", is nearly always written on inscriptions as
> > "I O M" or Iupitter Optimus Maximus (Jupiter Best and Greatest).
> >
> > Many other common forms abound, also at the end of a dedication one
> > might have written V S L M or "Votum Soluit Libens Merito" or to
> > translate, "willingly and deservedly fulfilled his vow".
> >
> > Coinage also follows this sort of use, e.g. "IMP CAES NERVAE TRAIANO
> > AVG GER DAC P M TR P COS V P P" or "Imperator Caesar Nervae Trajano
> > Augustus Germanicus Dacius Pontifex Maximus Tribinicia Potestas
> > Consul V Pater Patriae" or translated "Emperor Caesar Nerva Trajan
> > Augustus Germanicus Dacius, Chief Priest, Tribunican Power (for
> > life), Consul Five Times, Father of the Fatherland". (Germanicus
> > Dacius are names given to him to indicate he conquered, or won
> > battles against the Germans and the Dacians).
> >
> > Last, the Romans would usually never write their first name either.
> > G. Iulius Caesar is Gaius Julius Caesar, conquerer of Gaul and
> > murdered dictator-for-life. There are a whole bunch of standard
> > abbreviations e.g. L==Lucius, Gn==Gnaeus, M==Marcus and so on.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > On 09/06/2009, at 18:02 , Paul Dodd wrote:
> >
> >> For a little bit of fun I thought I'd contribute to this debate...
> >>
> >> Initially I thought that the distinction between "v" and "vs" as
> >> abbreviations was that legal practitioners tended to use "v" and
> >> sportspeople and others used "vs". Checking through the various
> >> documents
> >> from solicitors in the various cases that I've been involved in
> >> over the
> >> years (as a business owner, not a criminal!), in cases where my
> >> company has
> >> been the plaintiff, the documents are addressed as ......
> >> (plaintiff) v.
> >> ...... (defendant) - where v. is the abbreviation for "versus",
> >> obviously.
> >> Curiously when my company is the defendant, the documents are
> >> addressed as
> >> ...... (defendant) a.t.s. ...... (plaintiff) - where a.t.s. is an
> >> abbreviation of "at the suit of" - an English expression!
> >>
> >> I then searched my mind for the Latin that I learnt at school many
> >> years
> >> ago. And in almost every case the common convention for the
> >> abbreviation of
> >> Latin expressions is the initial letter of each word followed by a
> >> period.
> >> For example:
> >>
> >> e.g. exempli gratia (for example)
> >> i.e. id est (that is)
> >> q.e.d quod erat demonstrandum (which was to be shown or
> demonstrated)
> >> A.D. Anno Domini (in the Year of the Lord)
> >>
> >> Modern usage tends to omit the periods between the letters, and
> >> often the
> >> period at the end.
> >>
> >> So what about "etc"? This is actually a concatenation of a Latin
> >> word "et"
> >> (meaning "and") and the abbreviation for another Latin word
> "cetera"
> >> (meaning "other unspecified things"). Over the years "et" and "c."
> >> have
> >> merged into "etc." or "etc".
> >>
> >> For the religious Christian-minded, another well-known Latin
> >> abbreviation is
> >> "INRI" - Iesus Nazarenus, Rex Iudaeorum (Jesus of Nazareth, King of
> >> the
> >> Jews). Curiously, this phrase is often written without periods.
> >>
> >> Other Latin phrases are used today without abbreviation including
> >> "ad hoc",
> >> "ab initio", "ad infinitum", "annus horribilis", and so on.
> >>
> >> The only odd phrase I could find was "ad lib", which is a shortened
> >> form of
> >> "ad libitum" (at one's pleasure). A little more research indicated
> >> this
> >> phrase was always "ad libitum" until either 1919 or 1925 in
> America,
> >> depending on the reference one believes, when the phrase "adlib"
> >> was coined,
> >> as one word.
> >>
> >>
> >> So, in short, the "proper" abbreviation of "versus" is "v." with
> >> "vs" being
> >> a much more recent adoption.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From:
> >> On Behalf Of Rob
> Geraghty
> >> Sent: Tuesday, 9 June 2009 9:18 AM
> >> To:
> >> Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] Accipiter v Accipiter
> >>
> >>
> >> Just a point of pedantry not related to birding - can anyone tell
> >> me when it
> >> became common to concatenate "versus" to "v" rather than "vs"? I
> am
> >> guessing it's something advertisers began to make headlines
> >> narrower, a bit
> >> like the new habit of leaving out the words "hundred" and
> >> "thousand" in
> >> advertising to make 17,990 sound smaller.
> >>
> >> This is not a criticism of anyone on the list. I'm honestly
> >> curious if
> >> anyone noticed when this use of "v" began.
> >>
> >> Rob
> >>
> >> PS Ob-birding: miserable weekend for birding in Canberra. Cold,
> >> windy, and
> >> the birds had very sensibly looked elsewhere for shelter. :(
> >> =======
> >> Rob Geraghty
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
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> >> birding-aus.blogspot.com
> >>
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> >> 17:59:00
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