Phoebe and Her Unicorn by Dana Simpson for October 07, 2012
Transcript:
Phoebe: The northwestern white-butted unicorn, caliestis naribus. A rare find. Note the smugness of her expression, the superior air of her body lanuage, the way even the curse of her tail suggests a smirk. Let's observe her. Marigold: Since when do YOU know Latin? Phoebe: I don't have to know anything. I have a phone.
Michael Thorton almost 12 years ago
I used to do what Phoebe’s doing right now.
People would bully me all the time when I was in school, so in a desperate attempt to retain my sanity, I pretended I was Diane Fossey studying and documenting them as though they were a pack of chimps.
Templo S.U.D. almost 12 years ago
I was surprised on Phoebe’s “knowledge” on Latin as well, Marigold.
Anonymouse2.0 almost 12 years ago
All hail the brain stealing phone! Hail hits all mighty phone
Iron Ed almost 12 years ago
Love Marigold’s expression in the 2nd panel.
Would be funny to see her eating just the flower tops off all those dandelions. :-)
Q4horse almost 12 years ago
The equine nostril is indeed a heavenly feature. It can change its shape and diameter to suit its function and as an expression of emotions. Human nostrils have nowhere near as much flexability.
Stellagal almost 12 years ago
I can’t let my daughter see todays strip. She’s only five but already is asking for a cell phone.
Happy, happy, happy!!! Premium Member almost 12 years ago
Marigold is graceful looking even in that ungainly posture.(head down eating.)must be magic.
Stephen Gilberg almost 12 years ago
White-butted? Must be one of those cases where the butt stands for the whole, like “Get your butt over here!”
Comic Minister Premium Member almost 12 years ago
Good description Phoebe.
ceceoh almost 12 years ago
I used to dream of having a set of encyclopedia in my living room. Now I carry one in my back pocket. And that is a good thing.
libbydog almost 12 years ago
I used to look at all the pictures in my parent’s old encyclopedias – from the 50’s – they already smelled old in the 70s – early 80s. Really, there were sets of cat pics, dog, pigs, cow varieties; clothing from various periods etc. Do they even make paper encyclopedias anymore?
John W Kennedy Premium Member almost 12 years ago
Dog Latin, I’m afraid, that, if it means anything at all, means something like “heavenliness from the nostrils” (or perhaps “heavenliness towards the nostrils”). Google Translate should only be used on complete sentences, and should not be greatly trusted for Latin, anyway; the more unlike English a language’s grammar is, the more likely Google Translate is to go astray—and Latin is pretty far from English. Of course, as a nine-year-old girl, Phoebe could hardly be expected to know all that.
(I have no idea why GT knows that “nostril” and “nose” are two different things when translating from English to Latin, but forgets it when translating from Latin to English.)
Anyway, “nares caelestes” is the correct form: nominative, plural, feminine (because “naris”, “nostril” is always feminine), and with the adjective following the noun, unlike English.
bopard almost 12 years ago
I checked the goog translate like the rest of you. The noun agreement seems wrong ‘caeleste naribus’ plural for celestial or heavenly nostril nostrilS = naris?
?So once again the playground gets the gist while totally missing the point? Wish I were a native speaker, not relying on system pretending to know what it’s doing. sigh
bopard almost 12 years ago
We owe those classic thinkers a huge debt for even thinking that Phylum exists much less trying to classify the families of living creatures. And for Democracy, math, medicine, philosophy, rule of law, etc., etc. They came from a tradition that NOTHING can be known.
PHE teasing her friend’s pride not as bad as your mom wears army boots.
bopard almost 12 years ago
J.W.K. do you know if this sentence translation is close?.Monocerotis hominis nomen est coelésti Naribus..original entry was ‘’The unicorn’s name is Heavenly Nostrils.’’
bopard almost 12 years ago
cerotis pops up as ‘waxen plastir’ not a form of cornu, horn.
joe-b-cool almost 12 years ago
I just love the artwork, and the joke made me laugh!
John W Kennedy Premium Member almost 12 years ago
A) “Naris” is one nostril. ”Nares” is two or more. “Naribus” is either to or from two or more.B) Horrid mess. “Nomen monocerotis Nares Caelestes est.”C) “Monoceros” is not a true Latin word, but a borrowing from Greek μονόκερως. “Unicorn” is a true Latin-based word, but “monoceros” seems to have been more popular, just as “vocabulary” is more popular in English than “wordstock”. Maybe, because it was Greek, it seemed more cool and exotic. (Remember, to an ancient Roman, Latin was boring and ordinary.) Κερως and “cornu” are related, though, if you go all the way back to the neolithic common ancestor of Latin and Greek.
Formedras almost 7 years ago
“Googling is the new knowing.” -Phoebe, from a couple of months prior
will_ya_001 about 5 years ago
caelestis naribus=celestial nose