Re: CHAT Latin sig? (was: Conlang Flags)

Hi,
        I am just starting to learn Latin from the net and found the
phrase ``Quidquid latine ... viditur'' on a site translated as
``Whatever has been said in Latin sounds profound''.  I was not sure
about the metaphorical sense of altus and assumed that it is always used
in the sense of profound.
    So would it be grammatically correct to say : ``Quidquid latine
dictum, altum videtur'' ?  If one intends to mean only (b) then what
should `altum' be substituted by?

Thanks for the correction,
Shanth

John Cowan wrote:
 >> Latin "altus" means both 'high' and 'deep' and there
 >> are metaphorical extensions of both.


 >Or to look at it less anglocentrically, "altus" means that something
 >is large in its vertical extension: the difference between "high"
 >and "deep" is simply whether you are standing at the bottom or the
 >top of the object respectively. Lojban "condi" has the same sense.


 >> Is it
 >> (a) "Whatever has been said in Latin seems noble"
 >> or
 >> (b) "Whatever has been said in Latin seems profound"
 >> or
 >> (c) maybe the ambiguity is intended, i.e. "Whatever has been said in
 >> Latin seems noble/profound"


 >I think that (b) is the intent.

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