Thursday, June 28, 2007
Turpe Nescire
They've been discussing school mottos on "Today" following Gordon Brown's quoting his old one yesterday. My own grammar school motto used to float over my fourteen-year-old head, like so many things. Lately I've come to believe in it profoundly. Turpe Nescire means "it is disgraceful to be ignorant". It comes to mind every time I hear somebody boasting of their own ignorance.
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Is this anyuse?http://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?answer=41973&topic=10428
ReplyDeleteAte Matur Quid Docemur, etc etc...
ReplyDeleteOh bloody hell, yes. Otherwise known as "our tomatoes are expensive etc". How do you know that?
ReplyDeleteFloreas Wakefieldia, aureas cum regula...or something. Fellow old boy, David. I can whistle the tune but most of the words elude me at the moment. Sadly, neither of us make the 'famous alumni' on Wikipedia.
ReplyDeleteOh my God - it's all coming back to me.
ReplyDeleteFloreas Wakefieldia ;o) (what was it - 'quid quid rectum'? oh how we laughed!)
I used to quite like the badge, actually!
Ummm. Ironically until today I was ignorant of what Turpe Nescire meant, but did a quick google on reading the same BBC news article re latin mottos.
ReplyDeleteFortunately "auria cum regula etc." seemed a bit easier to guess a translation for.
It particularly bugs me when people brag that they know nothing about science. How is that something to be proud of? If I said I knew nothing about art/music/literature I'd be classed a peasant, but somehow it's OK not to 'do science'. Harrumph!
ReplyDeleteIf it's disgraceful to be ignorant then we are all disgraceful. How can anyone know everything?
ReplyDeleteI think it's more disgraceful to be a know-all.
In Latin that would be: Conosco Tuto.
Peter
Think I'll have to create a badge reading "Conosco Tuto" and put that on my sixth form blazer then.
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