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frenchpet -> RE: Subs and the lies they tell. (10/19/2005 6:55:11 AM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: subversiveone
cal·um·ny (kăl'əm-nē)
n., pl. -nies.
A false statement maliciously made to injure another's reputation.
The utterance of maliciously false statements; slander.
[Middle English calumnie, from Old French calomnie, from Latin calumnia, from calvī, to deceive.]
a dull post made in haste to attack a perfectly great state
it was dull but you managed to bring some light on it. It's strange because I checked my latin dictionary, and there's no calvi. There's "calveo"= I become bald, but the verb for calumnia is the deponent verb "calumnior"= I accuse falsely (in particular, before a court).
Of course as it is the case with any latin dictionary used in schools, my dictionary only refers to high latin, mainly from the time of Cicero, until approximately Tacitus (at least I don't remember I have studied any text earlier than 100BC or later than the early second century AD). "calvi" could be a newer word, I suppose. I'm surprised by the long i ending of calvī. I suppose they could have given the preterit form instead of the present form, but then I don't remember that preterits had endings with a long i. By the way, "caleo" means I am hot, so it's not that either.
If you have an explanation, I'd be more curious about it than about how mean the dominants are in Northern Dakota.
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