From Alan Simcock
You have given the letter from Karen Szymczyk about post-coital zebras the heading “Omnia animal tristes est” (29 May, p 31).
The original Latin tag is “post coitum omne animal triste est” (“after coition every animal is sad”). So you have the first adjective in the neuter plural (instead of the neuter singular) and the complement in the masculine/feminine plural.
Is this telling us something interesting about copulating zebras or merely showing that New Scientist is no new Latinist? Perhaps you need another Latin tag – “ne sutor ultra crepidam” (“let the cobbler stick to his last”).
Richmond, Surrey, UK
