Centesimus Tricesimus: March 8, 2009: Dicax
dicax, dicacis (gen)
Definition: witty, having a ready tongue
Sententia: Ut se ad Laerten* pugnandum rude paravit, Hamlet dicax dixit sic: "Vincam, si possum. Si non, nihil nisi meo pudore et levibus ictibus potiar.
*Greek accusative!
As he prepared himself for the sake of fighting Laertes with a foil (a sword used in fencing), witty Hamlet spake thus: "I will conquer, if I am able. If not, I will acquire nothing except my shame and light blows.
NB: This sentence, with its zeugma--a literary device in which a verb or adjective is used with two direct objects, in a different sense for each word--, is paraphrased from Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, Act V, Scene II, line 189-191. The King has bet upon a duel between Laertes and Hamlet, and the lines themselves are:
"...I will win for him [the King], an I can.
If not, I will gain nothing but my shame and the odd
hits."
This word is found in Catullus' poem 22, which is on the AP syllabus. This word is found about 15 times in Latin literature, like last week's word mostly in prose. Etymologically, it comes from the stem "dic," from the verb "dico," meaning "to speak" + "-ax," expressing ability.
NB: Bold and underline == macron