Comments on: Reference Question of the Week – 8/14/11 http://www.swissarmylibrarian.net/2011/08/20/reference-question-of-the-week-81411/ or, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Fear and Loathing at a Public Library Reference Desk Sat, 25 May 2013 00:44:28 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: Brian Herzog http://www.swissarmylibrarian.net/2011/08/20/reference-question-of-the-week-81411/#comment-3455 Brian Herzog Wed, 24 Aug 2011 00:22:43 +0000 http://www.swissarmylibrarian.net/?p=2375#comment-3455 @Shannon: I had a feeling translating to Latin wouldn’t be that simple. Google translate nugae to “gossip” – ha. Here are some other alternatives:

Useless information = Lorem vacuus

Useless facts = inutiles facti

Useless knowledge = scientiam inutilem

Also, I didn’t notice this before, but Google lets you click on a translated word to see alternate translations – of course, not knowing Latin at all, any of them are as good as the others to me.

]]> By: Shannon http://www.swissarmylibrarian.net/2011/08/20/reference-question-of-the-week-81411/#comment-3444 Shannon Tue, 23 Aug 2011 13:51:22 +0000 http://www.swissarmylibrarian.net/?p=2375#comment-3444 Latin for “trivia” would probably be “nugae”, which are sort of trifles or frivolities. “Frustra turpis” doesn’t make any sense and means something like “in vain, something shameful.”

]]> By: James http://www.swissarmylibrarian.net/2011/08/20/reference-question-of-the-week-81411/#comment-3433 James Mon, 22 Aug 2011 15:31:45 +0000 http://www.swissarmylibrarian.net/?p=2375#comment-3433 Odd. I also just learned the term “vade mecum” this year. In my case, I came across it in a Harlan Ellison short story. Almost immediately, that became the name of my laptop.

]]> By: Brian Herzog http://www.swissarmylibrarian.net/2011/08/20/reference-question-of-the-week-81411/#comment-3424 Brian Herzog Sun, 21 Aug 2011 13:51:34 +0000 http://www.swissarmylibrarian.net/?p=2375#comment-3424 @Lesli: I’ll get it fixed on Monday – thanks. And yes, I searched for “useless trivia” because that was the phrase he kept repeating that he wanted. When I searched for the actually book he had in his had, I just scanned the barcode.

]]> By: Lesli M http://www.swissarmylibrarian.net/2011/08/20/reference-question-of-the-week-81411/#comment-3420 Lesli M Sat, 20 Aug 2011 13:53:46 +0000 http://www.swissarmylibrarian.net/?p=2375#comment-3420 Psssst, your cataloger needs to fix the title. “Usless”

Did you search “useless trivia” because that’s what the boy was asking? I think I would have searched “useless information” because that’s what he had in his hand.

]]> By: Louise http://www.swissarmylibrarian.net/2011/08/20/reference-question-of-the-week-81411/#comment-3419 Louise Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:47:29 +0000 http://www.swissarmylibrarian.net/?p=2375#comment-3419 Oh dear, that first search result was hilarious, though I’m sure it didn’t seem like it at the time. But hey, learned something new about subject headings today! There are some odd ones out there.

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