Kitchen Latin

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Latin imitation "Tonnosaurus Rex" based on the zoological nomenclature on a garbage collection vehicle of the Berlin city cleaning company (2017)

Kitchen Latin (latinitas culinaria) is, in the original, narrower sense, a derisive term from the time of humanism for Latin that was considered “bad” or “barbaric” .

This gave rise to today's broader meaning, which includes the - mostly deliberate and playful - use of incorrect Latin or unsuitable translations through to deliberate Latin imitations. Sometimes the term pseudo-Latin is used a bit vaguely .

Concept development

At the Classical Antiquity trained humanists described the in their view, contrary to the renewed humanistic Latin "corrupt monk Latin" ( Church Latin ) of the Middle Ages as a dog Latin . They hated that (from today's point of view quite natural) further development of the late ancient Latin language, and they propagated a return to the style of Cicero or Caesar . For example, Johannes Aventinus said:

"It is very loud, and it is called kitchen Latin, if you speak Latin according to the evidence of the German tongues."

"It sounds pretty bad, and you call it kitchen Latin when you speak Latin in German."

- Aventinus : Quoted from KFW Wander (Hrsg.): Deutsches Sprich emphasis-Lexikon . tape 2 . Leipzig 1870, Sp. 1660 .

Later, the expression was also transferred to the early modern vulgar Latin - colloquial German - Potpourri, as it can also be found in administrative and student language . From there, the then obligatory Latin lessons developed from unintentionally comical translations and word games to today's meaning in the broader sense.

use

Kitchen Latin was deliberately used as a comic effect in what is known as macaronic poetry . For example, it is used in the anonymous satirical Epistolae obscurorum virorum ( letters to dark men ) as a “linguistic invisibility cap” in order to make ossified monastic scholarship the target of ridicule.

Kitchen Latin was used to impress (technical terms), to conjure up (magic spells) or to give a speech an exotic allure, as well as the exaggerated use of Latinisms , which was popular in the screwed-up language of the Baroque era . The deliberately wrong Latin mixed with modern language has a long tradition in the theater , for example in the "Vecchi" figures of the Commedia dell'arte , then in the main and state action and even in the farce of the late 18th and early 19th centuries Century. This tradition is reflected in the titles of the plays: Horribilicribrifax (1663), Lumpazivagabundus (1833). Even more modern word formations use culinary Latin with satirical intent, such as the “ Reductio ad Hitlerum ” by Leo Strauss (1953).

Nowadays the term stands for a playful, intentionally wrong or comical to grotesque use of Latin words (where only the word-for-word translation makes sense) or even for strings that look like Latin words, but only when read aloud make sense in a modern language. - The term gibberish has an even broader meaning .

In the economic sector, when looking for new company names and, above all, brand names, Latin or mostly Latin imitations are used again and again. In some cases, in these cases, usually unintentionally, precisely the grammatically nonsensical or - occasionally involuntarily - comical uses that are typical of the kitchen Latin appearances occur. Because of the long relationship between medicine and the Latin language, this phenomenon is increasingly found in health care.
However, not every (pseudo) Latin usage can be called kitchen Latin here. In addition, there are names that can be traced back to Romance languages , which can be difficult in individual cases.

Although they also consist of pseudo- Latin , Lorem ipsum and some related texts are not counted as kitchen Latin because of their purpose as dummy text .

Examples

theatre

" HANS WURST . Weynet periculum in mora, periculum in Summo gradu, (a) poor Bübl stuck in misfortune, biting my ear, I have to take my dear wife with me and watch all my assets go up in the smoke,
[…]
STAHRENBERG . Hey you, who, and from where are you?
HANS WURST. I am generis Masculini, (b) and wanted to go into town with my genere feminine (c) .
[...]
STAHRENBERG. […] Do you have children too?
HANS WURST. Yes, the singular has already propagated plural, (d) I have Stuck Eilff children, and with the twelfth I and my wife get pregnant. "

- Joseph Anton Stranitzky : Turkish-punished Hochmuth , I / 5
Translations:
(a) Imminent danger, extreme danger
(b) male sex
(c) (Being) of female gender
(d) In the same way: the singular has already reproduced itself in the plural.

Kitchen Latin gimmicks

The first variant uses sentences that make any sense even when translated correctly (so it is not actually pseudo- Latin), but where you have to know the transferred, colloquial or dialectal meaning of the Latin terms in German, the joke to understand; Some of these sentences were also created as unintentionally comical translations in Latin lessons (see also style flowers ):

  • Caesar cum vidisset portum plenum esse, iuxta navigavit. - "When Caesar saw that the harbor [South German for pot] was full, he missed it."
With the same topic:
  • Navigare necesse est. - "Shipping is necessary." (Reinterpretation of the quote: Navigare necesse est, vivere non necesse est. "Seafaring is necessary, life is not.")
  • Nullus Germanus navigat solus. - "Ka Germane ships allane." (Austrian: "No German ships alone.")
  • Caprum non iam habeno. - "I don't feel like it anymore." (Correct: "I don't have the [ goat ] goat anymore.")
  • Coito ergo sum. - " I exist through coitus ." - Modification of Cogito ergo sum ("I think, therefore I am.")
  • Mors certa hora incerta . - "The clock is sure to go wrong." (Correct: "Death is certain, its hour uncertain.")
  • Nescio quid mihi magis farcimentum eats. - "I don't know what more sausage would be to me ." ( Attributed to Otto von Bismarck . Nescio quid mihi magis farcimento esset would be completely correct .  - "I don't know what more sausage would belong to me.")
  • Nihil exspecto in omnibus - “ Spitting out on public transport is prohibited.” (Correct: “In general, I don't expect anything.” - Caesar's last words from the film It's crazy - Caesar loves Cleopatra .)
  • Nunc habemus endiviam. - "Now we have the salad." (See endive .)
  • Quidquid id est, timeo puellas et oscula dantes. - "Whatever it is, I fear the girls, even if they give kisses." - Profane modification of Quidquid id est, timeo Danaos et dona ferentes , "Whatever it is, I fear the Danaer, even if they carry presents" (with loss of the hexametric meter ).
  • scala dei - "unfortunately God" (correct [late] Latin, German "head of God"; "unfortunately Goddes" is the pronunciation of the translation in dialects with internal German consonant weakening .)
  • Se ex pulvere fecit. - "He made himself out of the dust." (Correct: "He made himself out of clay.")
  • Sed sub vespere olet ex pedibus. - "But in the evening he smells from (his) feet." (The joke only emerges when the translation is pronounced in Bavarian : " Oberamtsrichter aus Füssen ".)
  • Vera fides rara est. - "Vera is seldom loyal." (Correct: "True loyalty is seldom.")
  • Vita pastor est. - "Life is shepherd ('hard')." (Correct: "Life is a shepherd.")

A second type of pseudo- Latin serves as a guessing game for those familiar with Latin, for example with Latin terms literally translated from German, which only make sense after the back translation - with a few exceptions separately word for word:

  • Agricola arat. (Farmer, ara  = altar [ noun !] + T) - "The farmer ages."
Variant, a hybrid of the first and third group: "The farmer a 'Rad [= The farmer on the wheel.]" (Correct translation: "The farmer plows"; that means, agricola has to be translated, but arat is not.)
  • Caesar equus consilium. ([Caesar /] Emperor, horse, council) - "The emperor rides his bike."
Variant: Caesar equus consilium consilium consilium. - "Caesar drives a tricycle."
  • Caesar ora classis Romana. (Caesar, coast, fleet, [Roman /] Roman woman) - "Caesar kissed a brisk Roman woman."
Variant: Caesar litus unam classem Romanam. (Caesar, coast, one, class, Roman) - "Caesar kissed a great Roman."
  • Cortex ovulus (bark, ovulus = egg [ diminutive of ovus ]; word order, as usual in Latin) - "oak bark"
  • Deus pax ora lege lectus. (Gott, Fried [en], coast, read [ imperative ], bed) - "Gottfried kissed Liesbeth."
  • Fac animalia ad trahit! (close [imperative], animals, [he / she /] it pulls) - "Close the door, it pulls!"
  • Ignis quis vir multum in plus. (Fire, who, man, a lot, in, more) - "The fireman fell into the sea."
  • Ova alta fierent (eggs, high, [they] would [ subjunctive ]) - "Your Reverend"
  • Ovum, ovum, quid lacus ego! (Egg, egg, what, lake, me) - "Egg, egg, what do I see!"
  • Quidquid peregrinus (What, what, stranger) - "Was waß ( Austrian for 'white') a stranger?"
  • Quod lumen lumen , also: Quod lumen lux (what, light, light) - "What lies, lies (dialectal 'lies')!" (In a card game - should state that a card that has been played may not be withdrawn.)
  • Rex pullex post Africam et multum in plus. (King, Flea , to [ temporal !], Africa, and, much, in, more) - "The King fled to Africa and fell into the sea."
  • Unus ignis quis caput vir multum in corpore se ab audere et clamabat: “Studium fuga, meum prohibere!” (One, fire, who, [head /] head, man, much, in body, oneself, of, dare [ verb ! ], and, shouted, zeal, escape, my, hinder [verb!]) - "A fire chief fell from the car in Leipzig and shouted: 'Cursed my ass!'"
  • Via arx in oleo sedebat ([way /] Strass', castle, in oil, [he / she / it] sat) - " Strasbourg in Alsace "

The third variant is no longer Latin at all, but only from the typographical impression of Latin, so-called Sauerkraut Latin (analogy to the pun Blumento-Pferde ): The meaning of the written text only becomes clear when you read it (aloud) - a German sentence is heard. No knowledge of Latin is required to understand it, but some German dialects are required. The following inscription characterizes this type of pseudo-Latin:

  • SITA VSVI LATE IN ISTA PER CANES - "Looks like Latin, but is kaan [e] s (none)." (There are several versions; the special thing about the one used here is that it uses real Latin words , but the most not in their basic lexical form .)

Further examples:

  • Alaser si asmus. - "He ate eel, she ate mus." (Also: Alaser musas si. - "He ate eel , she ate mus .")
  • Ana dratantum procenta. - "Anna, drah d'Ant um, roast it ent a!" ( Bavarian : "Anna, turn the duck over, roast it on the other side too!")
  • CJ Caesar as libera V sternunt IX augnal S. Spina tunt Q. Caes. - “Gaius Julius Caesar preferred oysters and lampreys to spinach and cow's cheese.” (Remarkable and initially confusing: At the beginning, Caesar is written with the usual abbreviations of his first and gentile name and should also be used in German, but at the end it is allowed the common abbreviation for Q., Quintus 'and in inscriptions testified Caes. for Caesar' not be resolved. in addition, the V is first not for the corresponding Roman numeral that shortly following IX, very well.)
  • Datis nepis potus colonia - "Dat is ne Pispott us Colonia ( Cologne )."
  • The te cane is caput. or Ditec aneisc aput - "The teapot is broken."
  • Diecu rentum denserum. - "The cow is running around the lake."
  • Dicur ante di pum pehum. - "The cow ran over the pump."
  • Dicurante bissiphil - "The cow ran until it fell."
  • Ergo tamen amor genitus emnestus. - "He goes ame'n ame'n in the morning nid us em Nescht us." ( Basel German : "He doesn't get out of bed in the morning.")
  • Haskleas, rekleas, fux dilamentas! - "Has' ate clover, deer ate clover, Fox ate the lame 'Ent'!"
  • Hirundo maleficis evoltat. or Hirundo maleficis avoltat. - "Here and there a fuck is a relief!" (The correct Latin would be Hirundo maleficis evolat / avolat - "The swallow flies away from the wicked").
    The Luxembourg artist Wil Lofy has this pun on his bronze fountain "Maus Ketti" in the entrance of the Spa parks in Luxembourg's Bad Mondorf immortalized (on the label of a champagne bottle). So this fountain is a place to smile for the initiated. The saying can also be found in a window inscription in the “U Mecenáše” restaurant in Prague .
  • Oxdradium "Ochs, drah di um!" - (Bavarian: "Ochs, turn around!" - a preparation that people are often sent to the pharmacy for on April 1st .)
  • Vena laus amoris, pax, drux, piscoris. or Vener laus amoris, pax, drux, to goris. - "If a louse is on the ear , pack it, press it, until it is done (i.e. over, dead)." (Bavarian and East Franconian : "If a louse is on the ear, grab it, press it, until she is dead. ")

Analogous to the following motto :

  • The cat bit into the bread roll. - semel, bis, ter, quater (once, twice, three times, four times - number adverbs of Latin )

Similarly, there are also gimmicks with Greek, for which there is no separate name, and which are therefore usually subsumed under kitchen Latin :

There is also a gimmick with Hebrew, a combination of the above groups 2 and 3:

  • אֵל שלום el schalom (God [ "el" remains untranslated], peace [n]) - "Elfriede"

Economic sector

Healthcare
Railway company
Car manufacturers, brands and suppliers
Other areas

Other languages

The appearance is not limited to the German-speaking area, even if the term is not an equivalent for kitchen Latin in all languages .

Ore stabit fortis arare placet ore stat
Benchoxford.JPG
Bank in Oxford
Bench at the Whispering Knights, Rollright Stones.jpg
Bank at the Rollright Stones
English
  • Brutus et erat forti, Caesar et sum iam, Brutus sic in omnibus, Caesar sic intram. - Brutus ate a rat for tea, Caesar ate some jam, Brutus's sick in omnibus , Caesar's sick in tram .”
  • Illegitimi non carborundum - “Don't let the bastards grind you down.” (German for example: "Don't let the bastards get you down.")
  • Ore stabit fortis arare placet ore stat - "Oh, rest a bit, for 'tis a rare place to rest at." (Inscription on two benches in Oxfordshire - once in the park of the University of Oxford , once not far from the Rollright Stones , see adjacent images.)
  • Semper ubi sub ubi. (always, where, under, where) - "Always wear underwear."
French
The ancient Greek sentence Οὐκ ἔλαβον πόλιν, ἀλλὰ γὰρ ἐλπὶς ἔφη κακά. (in Latin letters, for example, “ Ouk élabon pólin, allà gàr elpìs éffeh kaká. ”, stressed syllables with an accent) means “They did not take the city, in fact the hope even seemed to be bad.” French readers can also use the sentence read as «Où qu'est la bonne, Pauline? »« A la gare. Elle piss et fait caca. » With the strongly vulgar meaning“ Where's the maid, Pauline? ”“ In the train station. She pisses and poops right now. ”
The sentence is erroneously attributed to Xenophon in many sources , but cannot be found in this form in his works.
Italian
The Latin sentence I, Vitelli, dei Romani sono belli - “Go, Vitellius, with the war tune of the Roman deity!” - would have a different meaning in Italian: I vitelli dei Romani sono belli. - "The calves of the Romans are beautiful."

In several Romance languages , a reading error even led to the creation of a new word:

Busillis ( Italian , Catalan ) or busilis ( Spanish ) is a term for “confusing puzzle” or “difficult point”. The theologian Giraldus Cambrensis († 1223) relates that John of Cornwall (around 1170) was once asked by a copyist about the meaning of this word. It turned out that he had read “in die busillis” instead of “in diebus illis”. This was promoted by the hyphenation of “diebus” in such a way that “die” was at the bottom of the page at the end of one column and “bus” was at the top of the following column. Although not mentioned in the source, the practice of scriptio continua may also have had a decisive influence, because this spelling was the normal case at that time.

See also

Web links

Further content in the
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Notes and individual references

  1. See evidence under kitchen Latin . In: Jacob Grimm , Wilhelm Grimm : German Dictionary . Hirzel, Leipzig 1854–1961 ( woerterbuchnetz.de , University of Trier).
  2. Online under the keyword kitchen Latin at Zeno.org ; the also available list of sources states as the original source : “Johannis Aventini of the highly learned, well-known Bavarian historian Chronica Bavaria. Frankfurt aMMDLXVII "(1567). Retrieved on July 16, 2015. Quoted slightly differently in the German dictionary .
  3. Online version at Zeno.org . Retrieved May 22, 2015.
  4. ^ Hermann Wagner: Illustrated playbook for boys . Leipzig 1878, p. 338–339 , urn : nbn: de: 0111-bbf-spo-16308064 .
  5. Compare entry in Wiktionary: Flower pots .
  6. Ludwig Zehetner : Where's it going again? In: Mittelbayerische Zeitung . July 1, 2017, accessed on July 7, 2017 (in the print edition on June 30, 2017 [Vol. 73, No. 148, p. 18]; the article is part of a series with a fixed title): “One tells oneself that a pastor feared during the Sunday high mass that his housekeeper, who sat reverently in the pew, would forget to turn the duck sizzling in the roasting pipe at home. So he turned around at the altar (at that time the priest was standing with his back to the people) and with outspread arms he declaimed: 'Léni dradántum procénta', to which the community responded: 'Et cum spíritu túo.' Leni understood very well what the pastor wanted to tell her: turn the duck! Fry them ent too, i.e. H. also on the other side! A variant of the pseudo-Latin warning reads: 'Léni ventántum procénta' (turn the duck), and as an extension there is the priest's sentence: 'Bali hámcum ísi' (as soon as I come home, I eat). "
  7. See illustration in the Luxembourgish Wikipedia: partial view of the "Maus Ketti" fountain by Wil Lofy .
  8. Sonsierey: Hierundo maleficis evoltat - picture by U Mecenase, Prague. In: TripAdvisor.de. December 2010, accessed on September 3, 2016 ( author named in “Hierundo maleficis evoltat” and date in the assessment “Consigliatissimo” ).
  9. Located in the Mesopotamia area , see Walter Sawyer: The University Parks, Oxford. Archived from the original on December 17, 2014 ; accessed on March 29, 2015 (English).
  10. buṡìllis in Vocabolario - Treccani
  11. RodaMots - busil lis
  12. busilis | Definición | Diccionario de la lengua española | RAE - ASALE
  13. Vol. 1 ° - IX.8. Lezione Magistrale ( Memento of October 9, 2004 in the Internet Archive ), text in Italian
  14. MDZ-Reader - Giraldi Cambrensis Opera, Gerardus Cambrensis, p. 343 ( Giraldus Cambrensis ), see also file: Giraldi Cambrensis relatio ludibrii Johannis Cornubiensis de lectione BUSILLIS.jpg with English translation