19 Nov
2001
19 Nov
'01
08:01
On Monday 19 November 2001 12:33, Doug McGarrett wrote:
/skip/
Kevin -- Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?
Translation: How much wood could a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
(A woodchuck is a small animal, a little bigger than a housecat, that lives in the woods in northern North America. I suspect that the Romans never saw one, so I don't know where the Latin is grounded.)
Marmota monax is the scientific name of the species, but marmota is a coinage, presumably based on the animal's slightly marbled coat. Andrew