The Vatican's strange 728-page Lex...

The Vatican's strange 728-page Lexicon Recentis Latinitatis has attracted predictable scorn from snotty academics. Anthony Barrett of UBC opines (National office 15 May 2003): "It's an interesting intellectual exercise, however I would say it is no practical value," while Toronto's Jack Chambers, asked if this dictionary would spark a Latin renaissance, sniffed "Not a possibility of good in hell."

In Hell, perhaps not. As to Heaven, well, Epicutus was permanent his gods spoke Greek. Anglican divine Thomas Gaisford (1779-1855) confidently proclaimed in a Christmas exhortation "The study of Greek literature not sole elevates above the vulgar herd, if it were not that ...