Word of the Day #8: Inexorable

by | Oct 18, 2022 | Vocabulary

Inexorable: Relentless; unalterable. Not persuaded or moved by entreaty or prayer; too firm and determined in purpose to yield; will not bend. Inexorable comes from the Latin prefix ‘in’ meaning ‘not’ and ‘exorabilis’ meaning ‘easily entreated, or influenced by...

Upcoming meeting: Trip to France

by | Oct 17, 2022 | Uncategorized

In preparation for a trip to France, I will be hosting a question and answer meeting on Thursday, October 20. Here is the information and the link to join the meeting: Topic: Trip to France Time: Oct 20, 2022 07:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada) Join Zoom Meeting...

Word of the Day #7: Conundrum

by | Oct 17, 2022 | Uncategorized

Conundrum: a difficult puzzle or problem. A seemingly unsolvable problem. A conundrum is also a riddle with an answer containing a pun. In my research, I kept running across this example: What’s the difference between a jeweler and a jailer? One sells watches and the...

Tip of the Week #246: How Not to Die

by | Oct 15, 2022 | Tip of the Week

Not too long ago, I read, How Not to Die by Dr. Michael Greger. (Of course, everyone dies, and Dr. Greger knows and admits this.) In the book, Dr. Greger shows us how not to die too young… because we ate ourselves to death. The book is a helpful analysis of the...

Word of the Day #6: Ephemeral

by | Oct 15, 2022 | Uncategorized

Ephemeral: short-lived, lasting or living for just one day.   Synonyms: fleeting, short-lived, brief, temporal Originally, ephemeral was a medical term.   Ephemeral described a sickness or a fever lasting only one day.  Over time came to mean ‘lasting a short period...

Word of the Day #5: Myriad

by | Oct 14, 2022 | Uncategorized

Myriad: Ten thousand.  A myriad can also mean: an immense number. We English speakers tend to use myriad to talk about something innumerable.  For example, I ran across myriad this week while reading The Story of English by the Roberts McCrum and MacNeil.    “All one...

A trip to France

by | Oct 14, 2022 | Uncategorized

For years, students have been begging me to take them to Europe. For a while now, I have been exploring various options. My wife is much better at travel organization. She has put a lot of work into making this possible. So, I am happy to announce that in May, I am...

Word of the Day #4: Nebulous

by | Oct 8, 2022 | Vocabulary

Nebulous: Vague, cloudy, hazy.  Lacking definition, form or limits. Nebulous comes from the Latin word nebula meaning “mist, or cloud”.  We can use nebulous to mean cloudy, or hazy.  When driving to work during a dense fog, the roads may have a nebulous look. But, we...

Today’s Word: Spurious

by | Oct 7, 2022 | Vocabulary

Spurious: Not genuine. Counterfeit.  Believable, but false.  This word started out in Latin as spurius, meaning “illegitimate.”  It was even sometimes used as a first name among the Romans for a child born out of wedlock.   These days, we still use the word to...

Whizbang

by | Oct 5, 2022 | Vocabulary

Whizbang This word has multiple meanings.  A whizbang is someone (or something) extraordinarily successful or effect.  It can be someone or something flashy or impressive, recognized by its noise, excellence, or startling effect.  A whizbang is also another term for a...

Some new developments

by | Sep 30, 2022 | Uncategorized

Many of you know that a few weeks ago, Google turned my email off.  No warning.  Just turned it off. Since I do a lot via email, this was rather annoying. I believe all is well now.  I have access to email once again.  Of course, I know have a pile of emails to crawl...

Tip of the Week #244: How to Conquer Worry

by | Sep 24, 2022 | Tip of the Week

I once ran across a great worry-eliminating tip. Here it is. Write down all the things you are worried about right now. Whatever is giving you anxiety right now.  Write it down. Now, cross out the things you have no control over. That’s it.  Stop worrying about those...

Tip of the Week #243: Consider a Back-up Email

by | Sep 17, 2022 | Teaching online

A few days ago (Thursday), Google suspended my Gmail account. I am now locked out of my email account: dwane@visuallatin.com. So, my tip this week is this: Have a backup email account.  I should have had a backup email account. I didn’t. I am looking at some...

I am locked out.

by | Sep 13, 2022 | Uncategorized

Google suspended my email account today.  Not sure why. When it comes to Latin, it’s no secret that I prefer the Ecclesiastical pronunciation of Latin.  Also, called the Italian pronunciation. I suspect Google prefers the Classical pronunciation.  And, so they...

Tip of the Week #242: Embrace Boredom

by | Aug 27, 2022 | Tip of the Week

I recently read Atomic Habits by James Clear. Unlike so many of the current productivity books, this is a book I can actually recommend. It feels a little corporate of times, and the opening story is rough (Mr. Clear suffered a traumatic injury), but I recommend it....

Tip of the Week #239: Expedition Bible

by | Jul 30, 2022 | Tip of the Week

I woke up super early this morning, and just couldn’t go back to sleep.  I am sure you know what that’s like. Naturally, I spent some time binge watching archaeology videos on YouTube.  It’s what we all do when we can’t sleep. I want to share with you my new favorite...

Tip of the Week #238: How to pack light for a trip

by | Jul 23, 2022 | Tip of the Week

You are familiar with hibernating.  Hiberna, in Latin, means winter quarters.  Military term.  When animals hibernate, they go into “winter quarters”. The Latin word for summer is aestas.  From aestas, English gets the word aestivate. Aestivating is the same as...

Lingua Latina… which books do we order?

by | Jul 19, 2022 | Uncategorized

I received this question: I am having my 7th grader start your Visual Latin this coming school year and am planning to add in Lingua Latina part way through per your recommendation. Can you send me a link to exactly what book(s) I will need for Lingua Latina? Will I...