[Ads-l] Anglicizing carpe diem

Benjamin Barrett gogaku at IX.NETCOM.COM
Sun Aug 9 01:58:24 UTC 2015


LOL. Those examples certainly look that way! I wonder if they are 
purposeful puns? BB

> Joel Berson <mailto:berson at ATT.NET>
> 8 August 2015 at 17:43
>
> "Carpe diem" (verb) seems to mean "seize the body, sexually"!
>
>
> Joel
>
> From: Benjamin Barrett <gogaku at IX.NETCOM.COM>
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Sent: Saturday, August 8, 2015 6:49 PM
> Subject: [ADS-L] Anglicizing carpe diem
>
> I probably learned the term "carpe diem" in high school, but it sticks
> in my memory mainly from "Dead Poet's Society," a 1989 film
> (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carpe_diem) about living for the moment
> even if it means death.
>
> World Dictionary of Foreign Expressions: A Resource for Readers and 
> Writers
> By Gabriel Adeleye, Kofi Acquah-Dadzie
> defines (http://bit.ly/1T6VAW2) "carpe diems" as a plural noun meaning:
> Enjoying the pleasures of the day with no regard for the future
>
> The Oxford Dictionary site
> (https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/carpe-diem?q=carpe+diem) 
>
> says "carpe diem" is an exclamation and Wiktionary
> (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/carpe_diem) labels it a proverb, but the
> phrase has found its way into various parts of speech.
>
> 1. Despite the label Wiktionary gives the expression, that page provides
> an attributive citation:
>
> =====
> 1905, G. K. Chesterton, Heretics[1], New York: John Lane, OL 24174141M:
> It is the carpe diem religion; but the carpe diem religion is not the
> religion of happy people, but of very unhappy people.
> =====
>
> 2. _English Department Newsletter_
> September 7, 1943
> Evidently by Lt. B. Baum, evidently edited by Angell Hall
> http://bit.ly/1Iua6PC
>
> =====
> I was granted an eight-day leave, ... was spent carpe-dieming roundabout
> N.Y.--trying out new ... and seeing shows and just generally practicing
> a decent ... epicureanism.
> =====
>
> 3. "Correspondence" in _The Carleton Miscellany_ by Rackstraw Downes
> Winter 1962
> p. 108
> http://bit.ly/1W9htDc
> Full text available under Download > All at http://bit.ly/1f0BABD
>
> In response to an article by George P. Elliott, Downes writes:
>
> =====
> "As venerable as _carpe diem_" he writes a few pagers later. Because
> Catullus and half a dozen others in antiquity wrote classic _carpe
> diems_, does this in any sense invalidate e.g. Ronsard's, Ben Johnson's,
> e. e. cummings' exquisite variations?
> =====
>
> I have no idea what this means, but it looks like a noun use.
>
> http://bit.ly/1T6Uc5M and http://bit.ly/1W9hVBt from the 1970s seem to
> have similar uses. 1995 http://bit.ly/1KaWGWE seems to define a "carpe
> diem" as an exhortation to seize the day.
>
> 4. _Another Chicano Magazine_
> 1989, dating by Google
> http://bit.ly/1DDHS5P
>
> =====
> He carpe diems and grabs her, thigh-high, in pretense of helping "steady
> as she goes." The firm, slick nylon translates to his pituitary some
> urgent four-letter code.
> =====
>
> 5. _Enter Whining_
> 1996
> By Fran Drescher
> http://bit.ly/1IPIgdJ, http://bit.ly/1MUnQas
>
> =====
> You'll laugh at the way Fran schmoozes her way into her own television
> series as she carpe diems with a CBS network executive who has the
> misfortune of being trapped in first class ("Where was he gonna go,
> coach?") with her on a 747 to
> =====
>
> 6. _Photographer's Forum_, Volume 22
> 1999, Google dated
> http://bit.ly/1KXSQWF
>
> =====
> I "carpe diemed" a few times in my life.
> =====
>
> Benjamin Barrett
> Formerly of Seattle, WA
>
> Learn Ainu! https://sites.google.com/site/aynuitak1/home
>
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>
>
>
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