illegitimi non carborundum

[ktron]

(and other such variations...) ok, so i knew it was a pseudo-latin joke, and i knew the purported meaning. (it's actually inscribed in the floor of a lab where i once worked...) but until i ran across the phrase "our faces are beginning to resemble the texture of carborundum" in the motorcycle diaries and got curious, i didn't know that (a) carborundum was (is?) a trademark for a leading commercial grinding substance and (b) wwii general "vinegar joe" stilwater and barry goldwater were leading popularizers of the motto.

i sorta feel like i'm guffawing 40 years too late at the joke, but better than never i guess.

and that, my friends, is today's reason why i love the internet.