You know, answering anatomy quizzes is much easier once you've learnt enough Latin to realise that ovaduct means "egg tube" and thermoreceptors are "heat getters".
Groucho: Now here is a little peninsula, and over here is a viaduct leading over to the mainland.
Chico: Why a duck?
Groucho: (after a pause)I’m fine, how are you? I said this is a viaduct leading over to the mainland.
Chico: All right, why a duck?
Groucho: I say that’s a viaduct.
Chico: All right, why a duck? Why a duck? Why not a chicken?
Groucho: Well, I don’t know why not a chicken. I’m a stranger here myself. I know that’s a viaduct. You try to cross over there on a chicken and you’ll find out why a duck.
Chico: But why-
Groucho: It’s deep water, that’s why a duck. Look here, suppose you were out horseback riding and you came to that stream and you wanted to ford over. But you can’t. It’s too deep.
Chico: What would you want with a Ford when you got a horse?
Groucho: (after a pause)Well, I’m sorry the matter came up. I just know that that’s a viaduct.
This is basically how I navigate the doctor's office: make a terrible half-baked translation on what scraps of Latin I have, ask if it's correct, update from there. XD
Knowing some Latin really does make learning vocabulary for many originally European languages much, much easier. You go "Oh, that one again" all the time.
I was discussing muscles and exercises with a Spanish-speaking friend and it was convenient for me that they all have the same names: deltoids, triceps, trapezius, gastrocnemius, pectorals, and so on.
It was convenient until I tried to talk about those Anglo-Saxon hamstrings. When I had to explain what that word meant, she laughed at me.
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Groucho: Now here is a little peninsula, and over here is a viaduct leading over to the mainland.
Chico: Why a duck?
Groucho: (after a pause)I’m fine, how are you? I said this is a viaduct leading over to the mainland.
Chico: All right, why a duck?
Groucho: I say that’s a viaduct.
Chico: All right, why a duck? Why a duck? Why not a chicken?
Groucho: Well, I don’t know why not a chicken. I’m a stranger here myself. I know that’s a viaduct. You try to cross over there on a chicken and you’ll find out why a duck.
Chico: But why-
Groucho: It’s deep water, that’s why a duck. Look here, suppose you were out horseback riding and you came to that stream and you wanted to ford over. But you can’t. It’s too deep.
Chico: What would you want with a Ford when you got a horse?
Groucho: (after a pause)Well, I’m sorry the matter came up. I just know that that’s a viaduct.
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This is basically how I navigate the doctor's office: make a terrible half-baked translation on what scraps of Latin I have, ask if it's correct, update from there. XD
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It was convenient until I tried to talk about those Anglo-Saxon hamstrings. When I had to explain what that word meant, she laughed at me.