The promised Harry Potter review will appear as soon as I've had time to do it, but in the meantime, here's a quick note on one of Terry Pratchett's many, many uses of Latin (or 'Latatian' on the Discworld).
In Jingo, a prince from Klatch is presented with an honorary degree by Unseen University, which is named as Doctorum Adamus cum Flabello Dulci. This, we are told means 'Doctor of Sweet Fanny Adams'. (Note to non-Brits: this is a rather rude way of saying 'nothing at all').
Unfortunately, Doctorum Adamus cum Flabello Dulci actually means 'Adam of Doctors with Fanny Sweet'. It should have said Doctor (Docturus if you want to sound more Latin without actually using Latin) Adami Flabelli Dulcis. And flabellum actually means a small fan (as opposed to the English slang meaning, which is more X-rated).
However, the idea of this being a name for honorary degrees does have a certain appeal to those of us who've slogged our way through writing a thesis!
My camel, which I rode for an hour or so, from my holiday to Tunisia last year. Because, er, there are some camels in Jingo. And I just really like this picture!
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