"Don't let the bastards get you down!" 1945

[Jonathan Lighter]

But isn't it true that the Romans made gerundive constructions snappier by
dropping the conjugated form of _esse_?

Anyway, my high-school Latin teacher (ca1964) was familiar with one form of
the phrase ("Illegitimis non carborundum," IIRC, but don't quote me), which
he associated with his Army service in WW2.

JL

On Mon, May 21, 2012 at 5:27 PM, Eric Nielsen <ericbarnak at gmail.com> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Eric Nielsen <ericbarnak at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: "Don't let the bastards get you down!" 1945
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Possibility: Illegitimis non carborundum est. Dative of agent (illegitimis)
> used with the passive periphrastic (carborundum is a gerundive)
> construction. At least that's how one of my Latin professors solved the
> puzzle when I asked her about the more common variant, "Illegitimi non
> carborundum"--which I just couldn't parse.
>
> Eric
>
> On Mon, May 21, 2012 at 11:35 AM, Baker, John <JBAKER at stradley.com> wrote:
>
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> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       "Baker, John" <JBAKER at STRADLEY.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: "Don't let the bastards get you down!" 1945
> >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > So what would the real Latin be?  Enquiring minds want to know.
> >
> >
> > John Baker
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
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