Latin insults were a basic part of Roman life, and they are also a great way to practice your Latin grammar. Given that insulting language is usually directed at another person, it gives you practice with the vocative and different noun forms. For example, "stulte!", "you idiot!" is the vocative form of stultus, idiot. The superlative also comes in handy: "stultissime!", "you total idiot!" -- but you have to get your gender right. If you are speaking to a woman, the form of this adjective is stultissima! The same is true for nouns: sometimes there is a masculine form, like ructator, a guy who burps -- or ructatrix, a woman who burps. You can also make group insults, using plurals instead of singulars: "stultissimi!", "you total idiots!" Insults are also good for practicing verb forms too, especially imperatives - and also subjunctives. This is because you can give commands in the imperative, "tace!", "shut up!", and also in the subjunctive, "taceas!", "shut up!" So, make sure you get your grammar right... or else you will turn out to be stultus (or stulta...) - this handout should help give you some ways to get off to a good start.
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