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Comment by mywittyname | Hacker News Reader

Maybe because not that many (American) people learn Latin anymore.

I took two years of Latin in high school. I still remember the basics and it has more or less served me well. I think it made learning Spanish, which I also took in high school and college, easier.

"Puella in silva est" - "the girl is in the forest" was one of the first exercises that I remember to this day ;-p

Having memorized the Lord's prayer in Latin is a fun party trick in some circles too :-)

"Le singe est dans l'arbre"

Eddie Izzard, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1sQkEfAdfY&gl=GB

I took latin too, for seven years. I finally passed with a 7 - one better than an "F" (for "fail").

They really ought to, when possible. I can't count the number of times I've encountered a new word that I could trace back to a basic Latin root. I feel like it gives you a good foundation for any romance language and goes hand in hand with the history of western civilization.

Latin is indeed still taught in elite private schools across the country. But let's be realistic: we'll never, EVER see a widespread push to get Latin into American education.

My regional public high school offered four years of it; I don't think it's that rare.

It's great for plants and animals when you want to know its official name and not the dozens of names many dozens of countries use.

That's the point, no? (No preference to a given nation)

Mere use of the Latin alphabet gives a preference to some nations...

Some is not one, though. Especially in the case of large values of "some"

Conspiracy theorists would have a fun time with an official language of the Vatican being selected for the purpose of anything as basic and universal as time itself, even if just for a label.

Well, my comment was more eluding to the fact that, until very recently, many Americans learned Latin as part of their primary school education. It was requisite knowledge for university.

(Secondary school, presumably)

This has not been true in America since at least before WWII and the GI Bill.

Latin was never a part of the standard primary school curriculum.

I was talking specifically about pre-WWII. My depression-era grand-parents learned it in school.

70+ years ago is not "very recent" when talking about schooling. Public schooling has only been widely available in the US for less than 150 years and only widely mandated for children in the last 100.

I think you mean "alluding". Eluding means avoiding.

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