In a message dated 4/12/2010 10:48:36 P.M., rpaul@xxxxxxxx writes: Let us brace ourselves to our possessives. --- I will need dates here, and I confess I do have the complete Churchill in my library (donations! in this precise case -- from the local British council! --) at the Swimming Pool Library -- but hey -- Winston S. Churchill: The Finest Hour, 1939-41 by Martin Gilbert (Hardcover - July 15, 2010) Buy new: $45.00 $29.70 Available for Pre-order --- date of 'their finest hour' speech. --- date of publication of "THE finest hour, 1939-41. --- That was a long 'hour' that was their finest. Is hour used metaphorically or did the Roman concept allowed for such Churchillian magnificence? In Latin, 'finus' is "thin" -- of 'little importance'. So 'fine hour' lasting 3 long years hardly qualifes as fina, never mind finissima. In Roman, 'the' is otiose, "FINISSIMA HORA". JLS