Bella Santorum is now an NRA life member.

[IDS Speaker Ben Kenobi]

Again. Bellum = War. Bellus = Pretty/Nice.

Completely different latin roots.

Bellus originates from bonus - benulus -> bellus.

These are false friends. Just because they look similar doesn't mean that they are similar.

[retromike22]

How the heck did this thread evolve from a disabled toddler being a member of the NRA to a discussion about the Latin roots of her name?

[asexual trans victimologist]

Again. Bellum = War. Bellus = Pretty/Nice.

Completely different latin roots.

Bellus originates from bonus - benulus -> bellus.

These are false friends. Just because they look similar doesn't mean that they are similar.

Yes, but bella is in fact the plural of bellum. It's not that Bella Santorum's name actually means 'wars of the saints'; it's that it can be made to mean that with a pun or play on words.

[IDS Speaker Ben Kenobi]

How the heck did this thread evolve from a disabled toddler being a member of the NRA to a discussion about the Latin roots of her name?

It got a topic upgrade.

[Lloyd Bentsen's Ghost]

It's sad when politicians use their kids as political props. It's even sadder when the kid is too young (and in this case, too mentally handicapped) to understand what is going on.

[The Mikado]

Again. Bellum = War. Bellus = Pretty/Nice.

Completely different latin roots.

Bellus originates from bonus - benulus -> bellus.

These are false friends. Just because they look similar doesn't mean that they are similar.

The point was that the plural of "bellum" is indeed "bella."  3rd declension plurals and all that.

Bella could also be used as a feminine adjective for "beautiful," but as already pointed out, it would be far more likely to be "pulchra."

...Six years of Latin, why do I mostly remember the grammar stuff?  Memories of years of "why do the 4th and 5th declensions even exist?  This is dumb" flooding back to me.  (Yes, I know 4th declension is mostly for foreign loanwords...5th declension has no excuse)

[5280/East California]

Not sure how Bella is going to use a gun with down syndrome once she's an adult, but whatever. 

[asexual trans victimologist]

She doesn't have Down syndrome, and Down syndrome doesn't inherently make one incapable of shooting a gun.

Also, considering 'santorum' is a plural modifier form of something, putting an adjective in front of it doesn't make much sense in Latin.