14-09-2017, 09:21 AM
Barnaby Taylor has tweeted a higher-resolution image of Gibbs's "solution" that I'm guessing he scanned from the TLS print edition.
What it demonstrates is that Gibbs doesn't know the correct way to expand Latin abbreviations (he neglected to take into account the positional rules of Latin for the position of the "9" abbreviation, for example) and apparently doesn't know Latin either because Latin words don't end that way.
It looks like he scan-read something about Latin abbreviations, without full comprehension or working knowledge of what he was reading, and then tried to apply it in a way that reveals not what he does know, but how much he doesn't know.
But Latin aficionados can judge for themselves:
![[Image: DJMKsQEXcAAkNl5.jpg]](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DJMKsQEXcAAkNl5.jpg)
What it demonstrates is that Gibbs doesn't know the correct way to expand Latin abbreviations (he neglected to take into account the positional rules of Latin for the position of the "9" abbreviation, for example) and apparently doesn't know Latin either because Latin words don't end that way.
It looks like he scan-read something about Latin abbreviations, without full comprehension or working knowledge of what he was reading, and then tried to apply it in a way that reveals not what he does know, but how much he doesn't know.
But Latin aficionados can judge for themselves: