Gotta Love the Innerwebs

I took Latin for two semesters in high school. It was interesting but I didn't put in enough effort, so I dropped it the following year. Spanish was already enough to satisfy my foreign language requirement, and I successfully completed 5 years worth.

Two things in Latin class made an impression on me. The teacher was a great character and the class was fun. And he presented us with a silly rhyme in ersatz Latin which I've never forgotten. I think of it occasionally to amuse myself but have never quite known how to write it out.

Enter the Innerwebs. A quick search on Sibili Si demgo was enough, and I now have the original ryhme and a few variations!

So, for your amusement, here it is the way Mr. Osborne taught it:

O sibili! Si demgo
Fortibus es inero
O nobili demis trux
Summit caus en summit dux.

If you're out there, Mr. Osborne-- thanks! I learned more than a little Latin doggerel: decoding skills for Spanish & English, and an appreciation of Latin culture. It wasn't your fault I did poorly in Latin. I did well in all the others, and it helped me with those.

But I'll go down the road occasionally intoning O sibili. . .