Funny. I remember from school this being a mere curiosity and definitely not part of any the curriculum or book, although a couple teachers were awfully pedantic about it and wanted us to memorize some of those, while at the same time decrying its lack of usage, correlating with "kids these days" caring only about trendy lingo.
Funny enough, this is probably the equivalent of modern "memes", but a few centuries (decades?) before...
Teachers wasted so much time making us memorize so much made up shit back in the day. I swear it's just because having minors occupied during the day is necessary for society to function. The actual stuff you need to learn could be squeezed into half as many years as schooling lasts, or half as many hours each day.
Funny enough, this is probably the equivalent of modern "memes", but a few centuries (decades?) before...