While purchasing some items yesterday I was served by a young woman named Delinda. I dare say she must have been a very destructive child.

To nit-pick, her name should really be spelt Delenda.

Also, she would be the one being destroyed, not the destructive one.

Isn't "linda" Spanish for "clean"?

That would make Delinda a dirty little girl.

Edit: Nope, it seems to mean "bordering" or "adjacent." Now where did I come up with "Clean"?

Of course, Arnie, you're right, but it was close enough to give me a good laugh all the same. Besides, it's been forty-five years since I've cracked a Latin text, so gimmie a break!

I thought "linda" was Spanish for "pretty".

Delinda? "Un pretty"?

Oh my!

If you google carthage delanda est (without quotation marks), the first entry you get is "Spam Delanda Est".

But for the Latin phrase I find two different meanings: "Carthage must be destroyed," and "Carthage is destroyed." Which is correct, scholars?

The second is correct, "Carthago delenda est" means "Carthage is destroyed".

However, Cato the Elder was a Roman politician whose catchphrase before the third Punic War was "Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam", "Therefore, I conclude that Carthage must be destroyed". He would bring it up at every meeting of the Senate, even when it was totally irrelevant.

They would be debating provision of funds for a new acqueduct, say, and Cato would say something like, "I vote that building of the acqueduct goes ahead, and therefore, I conclude that Carthage must be destroyed."

This warmongering successfully started the third Punic War and ensured that when the Romans were the eventual victors in 146 BC they showed no mercy to their rivals, and razed Carthage to the ground. The Roman general, Scipio Aemilianus, sent back the message to Rome: "Carthago delenda est", "Carthage is destroyed", responding, of course, to Cato's slogan.