Chris,

It translates as "Of the dead, nothing but good is to be said".

John P. Baker
President
NGSSA, LLC

-----Original Message-----
From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:[email protected]] On
Behalf Of Blaicher, Christopher Y.
Sent: Tuesday, January 15, 2013 11:44 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: Passing of Chris Mason reported

John,

Not being a Latin scholar, what does the Latin tag you quote mean in today's
English?

While many Latin tags are interesting, I never had the interest in learning
a dead language.  Yes, I am very aware it is the basis of many languages,
and yes, I took a year of it and decided it was as interesting as watching
grass (the lawn type) grow.

Chris Blaicher
Principal Software Engineer, Software Development Syncsort Incorporated
50 Tice Boulevard, Woodcliff Lake, NJ 07677
P: 201-930-8260  |  M: 512-627-3803
E: [email protected]

-----Original Message-----
From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:[email protected]] On
Behalf Of John Gilmore
Sent: Tuesday, January 15, 2013 9:41 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: Passing of Chris Mason reported

Shmuel wrote:

| De mortui

which is perhaps a botched reference to the Latin tag

De mortuis nil nisi bonum [dicendum est].

Latin dropouts would do better to refrain from pretention that betrays them
into the ridiculous.  In other words, get it right or avoid it:
'octopuses' is unobjectionable, albeit subliterate; 'octopi' instead of
'octopodes' is not.

John Gilmore, Ashland, MA 01721 - USA

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