The Origin of "Puella Docta"

So, I’ve used the handle “puelladocta” on a lot of sites over the years, including my twitter. When this journal was on Blogger its url was “puelladocta.blogspot,” and after a stint as canelsonauthor.com, it went back to puelladocta.com again!

I’m sure a few of you out there are wondering. “Why, Christina?” you may ask. “Why, oh, why, oh, why ‘puelladocta’ of all things? Your name isn’t even close to Puella Docta, nor are you a docta (read “doctor”), and what the heck is a ‘puella?’ Do you watch Madoka?”

Well, I’ll tell you, Little Billy! Just have a seat and let me learn ya somethin’!  (Actually yes, I’ve seen Madoka, but I’ve used this handle for years before it came out.)

Once upon a time, back when I was in high school, I was taking Latin, and I won the foreign language award for being an outstanding Latin student! In addition to my prize, my teacher gave me a card with a lovely poem she wrote in Latin, based off a poem by Catullus we read in class. My teacher really encouraged my writing, and so the poem made mention of my story. The last lines were, roughly translated:

…So take possession of the reward for your work, such as it is, o learned girl, may it aid your unfinished work: your beautiful world.

In Latin, “learned girl” is “puella docta.” Literally it’s, “girl learned.” There really isn’t much more to it than that, except that I adopted the phrase and wear it like a badge! Hope that clears things up!

Keep a lookout for a Valentine’s Day entry!