Re: OT: graffitum

I have long used "grafitto" as a singular for "grafitti", and I may even
have seen it used that way in a newspaper article.  My personal tendency in
this regard is to inflect as much as possible, so I'm not a reliable source;
I also routinely refer to an individual pasta noodle as a "spaghetto". :)

On 7/28/07, Geoff Horswood <geoffhorswood@...> wrote:
>
> It's a slightly ironic pseudo-Latin term that I've
> heard being used as a singular of "graffiti" - ironic
> in that using a "high intellectual" language like
> Latin for something slightly thuggish and uncouth is,
> well, ironic.
>
> I, not often needing a singular for "graffiti",
> assumed that the person I heard using "graffitum" knew
> more than I did.  Maybe they're just as ignorant.
>
> Geoff
>
>
> --- caeruleancentaur <caeruleancentaur@...>
> wrote:
>
> > >Geoff Horswood <geoffhorswood@...> wrote:
> >
> >
> > >One by one the penguins are stealing my sanity
> > >-Graffitum spotted on a bridge in England
> >
> > IIRC, we have borrowed the word "graffiti" from the
> > Italian.  This
> > would make the singular "graffito."
> >
> > "Graffitum" looks like a Latin 2nd declension neuter
> > noun.  If this
> > were so, the plural would be "graffita."
> >
> > Charlie
> >
>
>
> =====
>
> One by one the penguins are stealing my sanity
> -Graffitum spotted on a bridge in England
>
>
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--
Mark J. Reed <markjreed@...>

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