Signs of the Zodiac

Glikeria   Sat May 13, 2006 6:36 pm GMT
I wonder if anybody could explain to me the following:
Are both English and Latin equally used to name one's Zodiac sign?
She is a Gemini - She is a Twins. I am a Pisces - I am a Fish.
Johnathan Mark   Sat May 13, 2006 6:38 pm GMT
I have never heard the signs of the zodiac translated into English. i.e. "She is a Gemini," not "*She is a twins"
Mxsmanic   Sat May 13, 2006 9:24 pm GMT
In English, the names are Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces.
Lazar   Sat May 13, 2006 10:48 pm GMT
<<Are both English and Latin equally used to name one's Zodiac sign?>>

No - in English, the signs of the zodiac are always referred to using their Latin names. If somebody said "I'm a Twins" or "I'm a Fish", no one would have a clue what they were talking about. ;-)
Glikeria   Sun May 14, 2006 4:42 am GMT
Thank you, folks!
Pete   Tue May 16, 2006 2:56 pm GMT
'Capricorn' is not latin. It should be 'Capricornius'. That's an bastardised Latin-English version.
Damian in Dun Eidann   Tue May 16, 2006 3:55 pm GMT
I'm proud to be a horny Arian ram......
Jim C, York   Tue May 16, 2006 4:52 pm GMT
Aquarius my self, it has no bearing on my life at all, despite what J. Cainer says in his shop down Stonegate...

Did you see the Dave Gorman programme where he lived his life according to horoscopes? He ended up on Emmerdale!
Glikeria   Tue May 16, 2006 6:46 pm GMT
I wish I could have. Is Emmerdale an asylum?
Lazar   Tue May 16, 2006 7:34 pm GMT
<<'Capricorn' is not latin. It should be 'Capricornius'. That's an bastardised Latin-English version.>>

I knew somebody would pick up on that. ;-) You're right, "Capricorn" technically isn't Latin, but all of the other ones are Latin, and all of them (including Capricorn) are at least Latin-derived. You know what I meant. ;-)
Damian in Alba   Tue May 16, 2006 8:04 pm GMT
***Is Emmerdale an asylum?***

Well, not exactly Emmerdale itself....more so the Woolpack.....the goings there qualify that refuge of the depraved amorally deprived for asylum status.

I tend to regard horoscopes as a load of clamjamphry, but when I find myself regularly following the prescribed Arian behavioural patterns I think there must have some substance.

Jim: Aquarius? I've sort of suspected there was something wet about you! :-) Only joking pal!
Jim C, Jorvicskyre   Tue May 16, 2006 8:05 pm GMT
"I wish I could have. Is Emmerdale an asylum? "

Sometimes appears that way, but it's really an early evening soap....
same as above   Tue May 16, 2006 8:07 pm GMT
there = they must have some substance
Jim C, Jorvicskyre   Wed May 17, 2006 12:53 am GMT
A good little test, is to copy out a random sign from the paper, and pretend it is your friends sign. See whether it corresponds with their life. It is exactly the same as cold reading by psychics. You make a bland and broad enough comment, people will think it is exactly about them. Derren Brown proved this on one of his recent programmes.

Damian, If I was from the 1950's that might have offended me... ;)

Actualy, I wish people would say "He's cracked!" when people go a bit loopy, its great when people say that in old films. Especialy "A matter of Life and Death" with David Niven I think the film was called "Stairway to Heaven" in the USA. 1948 I think it was filmed.
Pete   Wed May 17, 2006 11:17 pm GMT
<<...and all of them (including Capricorn) are at least Latin-derived. You know what I meant. ;-)>>

That's right. However, since most of those are exactly the same as the Latin terms, most people tend to think they're all Latin. But they're not, at least not all. :)

Just as a matter of a fact I'll show you here, how those are in Spanish:

Aries - Tauro - Geminis - Cancer - Leo - Virgo - Libra - Escorpio - Sagitario - Capricornio - Acuario - Piscis

As you see most of them have been 'Spanishised'. I'm talking about Geminis, which as it's plural took the Spanish 's' for plural forms. As we haven't 'SP' 'SC' 'ST' initial clusters, then we added an 'E' in Scorpio. That's an easy way to recognise Spanish-speaking people too, usually they can't say STOP or SCAR, but they say (e)STOP or (e)SCAR. And the sings 'us' ending was also changed to 'o' following Spanish general trends.

It's quite strange that a Romance language like Spanish has changed it so much, it's also a matter of pronunciation, on the other hand a Germanic language like English has, more or less, preserved the original forms and still with a similar pronunciation.

Regards

Pete