Dear Forum -- I've been asked about the following quotation: "I need a quote from Mark Twain (I think) about the declensions of Latin nouns. It goes something like this: 'I would rather decline a beer than a Latin noun.' Could you verify/correct this quote?" It rings a bell (though I wonder if it wasn't about German rather than Latin?) but I can't say for sure if it's the real McTwain. Can any of you help? Is it Twain's? and if so, where is it from? Thanks, Steve Railton