The line in question (misquoted by the BBC website, and perhaps, for all I know, by Lowe himself) is this: "pedicabo ego vos et irrumabo". The BBC declines to translate it, merely saying that it "threatens a violent sexual act", but I am not so coy. It means "I will bugger you and stuff your gobs." (The Wikipedia entry on the poem contains the full text and a reasonable translation.)The article goes on to talk about how the media has been shy about translating. But I have to say, what kind of weirdo is going around texting Latin? Who has either memorized enough Catallus or looked it up to text? Doesn't that bespeak a lot (a lot) of effort?
People need hobbies.
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Everyone loves learning to swear and say naughty things in other languages.
ReplyDeleteMr. Lowe probably had to learn Latin in school, stumbled across this, and found it funny enough to be memorable.
I would be delighted he took the time to express his sentiment in such a cultured fashion. Good insults are a dying art.
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