I started a new class last week, Latter Days of Roman Britain. The instructor helpfully handed out a sheet with names, places, and other unfamiliar terms listed in two columns. As he lectured, I noticed he was going in order: Ceasar, Atrebates, Icini, Boudica, etc. With about twenty words in each column, he'd finish the list just as class was over.
The very last word was "limes". I was excited to hear about the Romans' use of limes. Did they eat them to prevent scurvy? Did they suck them with their ale? Did they prefer the taste of lime to lemon?
I waited impatiently as the final words on the list went by: Stracathro, Dacia, Decebalus, Parthia. (The Romans were having trouble in Germany.) It was time to leave, but the instructor kept going, thankfully. I didn't want to miss the limes part.
Finally, fifteen minutes after class was officially over, he got to "limes". Turns out it wasn't a tangy fruit at all. It was "lim-es", the Latin word for "wall". The Romans were fond of building walls around their territory.
Once again, I left class feeling foolish, I daresay even green.
