# What is 'dog Latin'?

'Dog Latin' is pretended or mongrel Latin — pseudo-Latin coined by adding Latin endings to English words. Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898), human-proofread transcription on English Wikisource records: “Pretended or mongrel Latin. An excellent example is Stevens' definition of a kitchen: As the law classically expresses it, a kitchen is "camera necessaria pro usus cookare; cum saucepannis, stewpannis, scullero, dressero, coalholo, stovis, smoak-jacko; pro roastandum, boilandum, fryandum, et plum-pudding-mixandum. . . . "— A Law Report (Daniel v. Dishclout).”

## What it means

- Verbatim from Brewer's (1898): Pretended or mongrel Latin. An excellent example is Stevens' definition of a kitchen: As the law classically expresses it, a kitchen is "camera necessaria pro usus cookare; cum saucepannis, stewpannis, scullero, dressero, coalholo, stovis, smoak-jacko; pro roastandum, boilandum, fryandum, et plum-pudding-mixandum. . . . "— A Law Report (Daniel v. Dishclout).

## Action steps

1. Modern usage: 'Dog Latin' is pretended or mongrel Latin — pseudo-Latin coined by adding Latin endings to English words.
2. When quoting the origin, cite Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898) — this is a 19th-century record, not a modern etymology.

## Sources

- [Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898) — Wikisource proofread text](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Brewer%27s_Dictionary_of_Phrase_and_Fable/Dog-Latin)

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