Re: Sadness for my lost CAS mementos.
Posted by:
Methusalem (IP Logged)
Date: 29 July, 2011 04:12AM
Being German and a former Waffenstudent myself, I am familiar with the song you quoted from. Actually, "rerum" is genitivus pluralis of "res", meaning "the thing" but sometimes also "the cause". "Res publica", the public thing or publc cause, is, of course, the Latin word for "republic", i.e. a democratic state).
Thus, "Oh quae mutatio rerum" can be translated as "Oh, how things have changed".
"Jerum", however, is believed to have derived from "Jesus" or "Jesu". "Oh jerum" can be translated as "My oh my", invoking but not actually saying the name of God in a slightly inappropriate situation.