12/17/2008

sic transit gloria mundi

...if I were a Latin teacher I would die laughing telling this to my class.

So Bernard Madoff is this guy who was a giant on Wall Street. I had never heard of him, but then again I have only been to Wall Street once as a tourist. Anyway, apparently he was the second person to successfully manage a Ponzi scheme since the 1920's. Well, at least that's what they're calling it. So far they haven't really been able to determine exactly how he got away with swindling investors out of 50 BILLION DOLLARS.

My friend Kelly had to comment and correct me. I assumed that he couldn't have possibly swindled 50 BILLION...that I had heard wrong...but no, it's actually 50 BILLION DOLLARS.

At his press release, he's reported to have said nothing but just given a little sticky note to the reporters with these words: "Sic transit gloria mundi."

"Thus Passeth Worldly Glory."

This phrase is used in the papal coronation ceremony.

What an arrogant thing for such a man to say! I told this to my French professor, and it really cracked him up. At the beginning of the semester we had a unit on Latin (the class was History of the French Language), and he happens to be a genius when it comes to English, French, Finnish, Dutch, Hebrew, and of course, Latin.

If only I were a High School Latin teacher. Man, that would be a great story to tell them!

2 comments:

  1. I bet he thought that it was really funny! I think it is, too, and I barely know Latin at all...

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  2. believe it or not, it was 50 BILLION DOLLARS. Billion. I can't even fathom that much money. I watch all the Headline News because I have been following the Casey Anthony trial, but they have been talking about this guy lately...they show all these elderly retirees in florida who got swindled out of their life savings...positively evil.

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