Ex Nihilo Nihil Fit

I studied history in Germany. While there, an African exchange student enrolled, as well. He had a very thick accent and had quite a lot of trouble putting his thoughts to paper. So, when an assignment was due, he asked the elderly professor if he could write the assignment in English, where he had way more ease expressing himself.

The elderly professor didn’t want to admit that his English was rather bad, so instead, he referenced the university guidelines that stipulated that (except for language studies) all assignments were to be written in either German or Latin.

Little did the professor know that the African exchange student had, in fact, been schooled in a Jesuit monastery, so he did turn in the assignment in perfect Latin. Since the professor had specialized in Modern History, he needed the help of a Latin professor to grade the assignment.

The university guidelines were amended a year later: assignments in Latin are now only acceptable for those studying Latin.