@Joonas: Gerunds do not have plural forms, do they? They do not come with objects so do not have to agree in case, number and gender-- as a gerundive does.
@Joonas: Are you up for a physics question, in your capacity as a physics man? The old chestnut of a tunnel through the centre of the earth; dropping a man or object into it...I thought the body would execute simple harmonic motion, eventually coming to rest in the centre. According to an article "Hole through the Earth Example--Georgia state Uni", the body would fly through the centre, almost reach the other end, be dragged back and emerge out of the original entrance at Mach-3--any thoughts?
@Adam In some languages a version of factura means an invoice. Swedish comes to mind, and I think it's not alone. I'd read factura prima as "she who will do first", but I would be puzzled by it. The other option, opus primum (neuter!), would make me feel more confident that I understand it, and I'd read it as "the first work".
@tony Depends on how you model it. If there's no friction, it will keep oscillating. When the density of the planet is uniform, this oscillation is harmonic, but not otherwise, if memory serves me well. It most certainly will not fly out the original hole any faster than it entered unless there's something apart from gravity acting on it.
@Joonas: Thanks. I wasn't convinced about Mach-3. Without air-resistance the body would oscillate forever? Is that a legitimate example of perpetual motion?
@tony Yes, all kinds of oscillators will oscillate perpetually in the absence of friction. There is always some friction, but the damping effect can be very small. Perpetual motion only exists in approximate frictionless models.
Actually the concept of Mach numbers is silly if there is no air for friction. Or perhaps it refers to a sea-level reference sound speed?
Anyway, the speed inside the planet might be pretty high, but conservation of energy will tell you that it will be back to zero on the surface.
@JoonasIlmavirta I think I will think on it some more and come up with something more obscure and profound. I like to use titles and names that can be interpreted more than one way, but those interpretations should at least make sense. :P
@Adam I don't have any complete phrase in mind, but canes is plural nom/acc and future 2S (second person singular), canis is singular nom/gen and present 2S, and cane is singular abl and imperative 2S.
@Cerberus Oh, there was more than I saw. Good ideas!
The kind of ambiguity you could end up with depends on other words you'd want to include.
For a silly example, canis lupus is the scientific name for a wolf but also "you sing as a wolf".
If you find another ambiguous pair besides dog/sing, you could do something more elaborate.
If you drop amicus from the title I have, it could mean wild basket, or baskets of wild beasts, right? Not particularly exciting unless you're really into wicker baskets.
@JoonasIlmavirta Thanks - I'll dig through that. I also might make a post asking specifically for versions of the phrase that introduce other possible meanings. Assuming people find it engaging, anyway.
@Adam That sounds like a fun question to try. Just make sure it's answerable.
If you give a few words or topics you like and ask people to come up with something ambiguous, even a single word, that could be interesting. An example like dog/sing would clarify the goal.
Habeō quæstiōnem dē translatiōnem textī Latīnā nōvā scrīptā. Textus ā Prosperōne Mandōsiōne in librō Bibliothecā Rōmānā scrīptus est, et dē Ottāviōne Dūrante est. Anglice vertī; sī versus meus bonus est in SO quærere possit?
(That was my first attempt at writing Latin in a very long time. I have a question on the translation of a text written in New Latin. →
@Cerberus It does indeed! Easiest way to type Latin, if you ask me. A bit bothersome to switch between Norwegian and Māori keyboard to get the Æs (I think they look good in a Latin text), but it is well worth it.
Quid significat «quaere explicans», Cerbere?
Et nōmen mihī Latīne Tonitrus-Sagittārius Pāstūncus est. :-)
«Batavus» est demonyma populī Nederlandiæ, [how do you say ‘right?’ in Latin?], sed quæ est etymologia «batavus»? Scīsne? Victionāria nōn scit.
(For longer translation requests – that is: help with this longer phrase which I have worked on – should I choose sentence-translation? It has no description presently.)
