"Nolite te bastardes carborundum" 10-dime challenge:
2 dimes to the person who names the book that made the above phrase famous
-Answered by Creek
1 dime to the person who knows the author of said book
-Answered by Creek
3 dimes to the person who can tell me how long the said book stayed on the New York Times bestseller list
3 dimes to the person who can tell me what the phrase means
-Answered by Creek
1 dime to the person who can tell me where the phrase was first discovered (this should be a physical place)
-Lord of Water
ID:274617
 May 29 2002, 7:45 pm (Edited on May 30 2002, 7:21 am)
|
|
Hmmmm... Here's what the alt.usage.english FAQ has to say about it. I'm guessing what you're refering to is one of the "variant forms" it mentions. The Latin appears wrong as well.. I'm fairly sure "bastardes" isn't right. The FAQ talks a little about the possible Latin words for "bastard":
"Illegitimis non carborundum" ----------------------------- Yes, this means "Don't let the bastards grind you down", but it is not real Latin; it is a pseudo-Latin joke. "Carborundum" is a trademark for a very hard substance composed of silicon carbide, used in grinding. (The name "Carborundum" is a blend of "carbon" and "corundum". "Corundum" denotes aluminium oxide, and comes to English from Tamil _kuruntam_; it is related to Sanskrit _kuruvinda_ = "ruby".) "The "-ndum" ending suggests the Latin gerundive, which is used to express desirability of the activity denoted by the verb, as in _Nil desperandum_ = "nothing to be despaired of"; _addendum_ = "(thing) fit to be added"; _corrigendum_ = "(thing) fit to be corrected"; and the name Amanda, from _amanda_ = "fit to be loved"). _Illegitimis_ is the dative plural of _illegitimus_ = "illegitimate"; the gerundive in Latin correctly takes the dative to denote the agent. _Illegitimus_ could conceivably mean "bastard" in Latin, but was not the usual word for it: _Follett World-Wide Latin Dictionary_ (Follett, 1967) gives _nothus homo_ for bastard of known father, and _spurius_ for bastard of unknown father. The phrase seems to have originated with British army intelligence early in World War II. It was popularized when U.S. general Joseph W. "Vinegar Joe" Stilwell (1883-1946) adopted it as his motto. Various variant forms are in circulation. -AbyssDragon | |
The Handmaid's Tale
Margaret Atwood
Don't let the bastards grind you down