In message , Tim S
writes
On Fri, 03 Dec 2004 21:25:03 +0000, Mike wrote:


"Tim S" wrote in message
news
On Fri, 03 Dec 2004 19:38:09 +0000, Mike wrote:


Surely if he's the buyer then caveo is correct ? Then again Latin was
never my strong point ever since my Latin master dropped dead after
our second lesson and the school never replaced him.

It's a long time since I did any latin...

(the) buyer, (let him) beware.

So 3rd person.

"the buyer, let me beware" wouldn't be right.

"Let me, the buyer, beware" was what I was thinking of.

Yes - that sounds better. I did wonder if "emptor" needed a different
declension until I realised that it's missing its declension
ending altogether (emptor-is)!! I only did latin for a year - can anyone
with a "proper educashun" explain that?

Emptor is the nominative i.e. the subject of the sentence. Caveat is
third person subjunctive: 'he/she should beware'.

Obsolete, of course. In the EU, the world's most competitive trading
bloc by 2010, it is the seller who must beware. The buyer is assumed to
have the brains of a Zabriskan fontema, and to be incapable of bewaring.
--
Joe