mottoes-msg - 10/25/00 Latin mottoes and phrases for SCA use. NOTE: See also the files: mottoes1-msg, Latin-msg, languages-msg, Latin-online-art. ************************************************************************ NOTICE - This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday. This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with seperate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter. The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make no claims as to the accuracy of the information given by the individual authors. Please respect the time and efforts of those who have written these messages. The copyright status of these messages is unclear at this time. If information is published from these messages, please give credit to the orignator(s). Thank you, Mark S. Harris AKA: Lord Stefan li Rous mark.s.harris@motorola.com stefan@florilegium.org ************************************************************************ Please note: ------------------ A helpful hint for those wishing to translate phrases from Latin to English: Before asking a Latin expert to translate your phrase for you, first try doing a websearch for it. Convert the phrase, if needed, to all lower case and enclose the whole phrase in quotes for your search. There are a lot of famous Latin phrases already available on-line with translations. ------------------ Subject: Carpe temporis momentum. Date: Sun, 28 Mar 99 04:25:14 MST From: Gunnora Hallakarva To: ccross@webtv.net (C. Cross) At 07:36 AM 2/5/99 -0500, you wrote: >Hi, Came across your enjoyable translations while trying to do a "Seize the >Minute" translation. Any help would be most appreciated. Seize the moment >might be OK, but I am actually referring to a specific minute which recurs >every 24 hours, so I think 'minute' might be the better choice, but I'll >leave that to your expertise. Thank you, Chris The major problem here is that the idea of a minute or a second is an artifact of spring-driven clocks and watches. Prior to the advent of precision timekeeping devices, which did not occur until the Renaissance, the best timekeeping tools were sand-glasses, sun-dials, water-clock, and marked candles that burned at a fixed rate of speed. None of these items was geared to measure in units of less than an hour, which meant that half or quarter-hour was the greatest precision a person chould achieve using such timekeeping devices. Not only that, but even if a Roman equivalent to Big Ben had been available, carefully counting out the minutes, it still would not have introducted the concept of 1/60th of an hour into the language, as without personal watches to keep time, an individusal doesn't count minutes, but only hours, and occasionally half or quarter-hours -- but most often people kept time in 2 to 4 hour blocks before modern timekeeping purposes. The closest we can get tho this phrase would be: Carpe temporis momentum. "Seize a certain moment in time". GLOSSARY ---------------- carpo, carpere, carpesi, carpetum (2nd conjugation verb) -- carpe (imperative present singular) "you seize!" tempore (adverb) "in time, on time, in due time" momentum, momenti (2nd declension neuter noun) "movement, motion, alteration, turn, critical time, moment, impulse, momentum, influence, importance, motive" -- momentum (accusative singular used as direct object) cc: Stefan le Rous for his Florilegium Files Gunnora Hallakarva Baroness to the Court of Ansteorra Subject: Ex Luce Ad Veritatem. Date: Sun, 28 Mar 99 06:12:42 MST From: Gunnora Hallakarva To: "Larry Morin" >I'd greatly appreciate a translation, poetic license allowed, of the >phrase, "From light, truth" or "Truth comes from light" or "Truth is >revealed by light" or some such. If you know a real quote that is >similar, so much the better. Thanks very much. Ex Luce Ad Veritatem. or you could say with the exact same meaning: Ad Veritatem Ex Luce both mean, From Truth to Light" GLOSSARY ex (preposition requiring ablative object) of space: "out of, from, down from, up from, above" of causality "from, through by, on account of, by reason of" lux, lucis (3rd declension feminine noun) "light, light of day, daylight, public view/limelight" -- luce (ablative singular, used as object of preposition) ad (preposition requiring accusative object) of space: 'to, towards, near, at, on, by" veritas, veritatis (3rd declension feminine noun) "truth, truthfullness, the truth, the real facts. reality, honesty, integrity, -- veritatem (accusative singular, used as object of preposition) cc: Stefan li Rous for his Florilegium Files Gunnora Hallakarva Baroness to the Court of Ansteorra Subject: Secamus, frigimus, minutatim concidimus, sed patinae non detergemus! Date: Sun, 16 May 1999 02:24:42 MST From: Gunnora Hallakarva To: Aelfwyn@aol.com CC: "Mark.S Harris (rsve60)" >Mistress, >As part of a running joke on the cooks list, someone made the quote; "we >slice, we dice, we fricassee...but we don't do dishes!" The phrase you want is: Secamus, frigimus, minutatim concidimus, sed patinae non detergemus! The only impossible word is "fricassee" which my English dictionary defines as "poultry cut into pieces, stewed and served with a gravy". The word is derived from French "fricasser", "to fry", so I used the Latin root of the French origin term instead. I also rearranged the terms a bit just for the sake of euphony. GLOSSARY: concido, concidere, considi, concisum (3rd conjugation verb) "to cut up, to cut to pices, to chop up" -- minutatim concidere (phrase) "to chop finely" -- minutatim concidimus (phrase in 1st person plural present tense) "we dice" detergeo, detergere, detersi, detersum (2nd conjugation verb) "to wipe off, wipe away, wipe clean, wash dishes" -- non detergemus (1st person plural present tense with negative) "we don't wash" frigo, frigere, frixi, frictum (3rd conjugation verb) "to fry, to roast" -- frigimus (1st person plural present tense) "we fry / fricassee" patina, patinae (1st declension feminine noun) "dish, plate, pan" seco, secare, secui, sectum (1st conjugation verb) "to cut, cut off, slice, carve, excise" -- secamus (1st person plural present tense) "we slice" sed (conjugation) "but" cc: Stefan li Rous for his Florilegium Files Gunnora Hallakarva Baroness to the Court of Ansteorra Subject: Amicii flores in horto vitae sunt. Date: Sun, 16 May 1999 02:24:44 MST From: Gunnora Hallakarva To: GRDNR4EVR@aol.com CC: "Mark.S Harris (rsve60)" >Friends are the flowers in the garden of life Amicii flores in horto vitae sunt. GLOSSARY: amicus, amicii (2nd declension masculine noun) "friend" -- amicii (nominative plural -- subject) "friends" flos, floris (3rd declension masculine noun) "flower, bud, blossom, best of anything, prime of life, glory" -- flores (nominative plural -- subject) "flowers" hortus, horti (2nd declension masculine noun) "garden" -- horto (ablative singular used as obj of preposition) in (preposition requiring ablative case) sum, esse, fui, futuri (irregular verb) "to be" -- sunt (present tense 3rd person plural) "they are" vita, vitae (1st declension feminine noun) "life, way of life, livlihood, course of life, career" -- vitae (genitive singular -- possessive) "of life" cc: Stefan li Rous for his Florilegium Files Gunnora Hallakarva Baroness to the Court of Ansteorra Subject: Credo potest / Foedus sed meus Date: Sun, 16 May 1999 02:24:44 MST From: Gunnora Hallakarva To: jhartel@net-link.net CC: "Mark.S Harris (rsve60)" >When time allows could you please translate "I think I can" or "It's >ugly but it's mine!" into either Latin or something Norse-like? I THINK I CAN ------------------ "I think I can" is a colloquial English way of saying, "I think that I can do x" or "I believe that I can accomplish x" or "I believe that it is possible", so your phrase would be: Credo potest. IT'S UGLY, BUT IT'S MINE ------------------------------------ The phrase you want is: Foedus sed meus. For this phrase, you don't really need a verb. The full phrase would be "Foedus sed meus est" but a Latin speaker would have also recognized "Ugly but mine" as a valid phrase. GLOSSARY: credo, credere, credidi, creditum (2nd conjugation verb) "to believe, to think, to lend credence, to suppose, to imagine" deformis, deforme (adjective) "shapeless, amorphous, mishapen, disfigured, ugly, unbecoming" foedus, foeda, foedum (adjective) "horrible, ugly, disgusting, repulsive" meus, mea, meum (1st person singular possessive pronoun) "mine" possum, posse, potui, possum est (irregular verb) "to be able" -- potest (3rd person singular present tense) "it is possible" sed (conjugation) "but" sum, esse, fui, futurus (irregular verb) "to be" -- est (3rd person singular present tense) "it is" cc: Stefan li Rous for his Florilegium Files Gunnora Hallakarva Baroness to the Court of Ansteorra Subject: Ad astra per aspera. Date: Sun, 16 May 99 02:24:45 MST From: Gunnora Hallakarva To: Imdad Baloch CC: "Mark.S Harris (rsve60)" > Long time ago i came across a Latin phrase,which > i forget but do remember its English translation > which is"slowly and painfully to stars" or something > to that effect.The nearest i could get to it was > "ad astra per aspera" which is the motto of one of > the states in USA. would appreciate your help in > correct translation of the phrase"slowly and > painfully to stars" into Latin.thanks a lot > imdad baloch In fact, that's the correct phrase. The literal translation is "Through adversity/hardship to the stars." You could change it a bit to get a more exact phrase meaning "slowly and painfully", but "aspera" is a pretty pithy way of saying the same thing. Latin, like any foreign language, does not "map" exactly to English and as a result you can frequently say something in one word in Latin that takes several English words to express, and even then English may not be able to express the same concept exactly. A more awkward expression would be: Tarde graviterque ad astra. GLOSSARY: ad (preposition requiring the accusative case) "to, towards" astrum, astri (2nd declension neuter noun) "star, constellation" -- astra (nominative plural) "stars, sky, heaven, immortality" per (preposition requiring the accusative case) "through" asper, aspera (2nd declension neuter noun) "hardship, rough times, adversity, austerity" tarde (adjective) "slowly, lingeringly" graviter (adjective) "heavily, ponderously, violently, painfully, disagreeably" cc: Stefan li Rous for his Florilegium Files Gunnora Hallakarva Baroness to the Court of Ansteorra Subject: Re: Latin translation... Date: Sun, 16 May 1999 03:29:02 MST From: Gunnora Hallakarva To: hinsml@uleth.ca CC: "Mark.S Harris (rsve60)" > I would like to know how one would say, >"A cultural dumping ground" in Latin That would be either: Colluvio culturae or Locus colluvio culturae. > as well as "Death to..." Mortem obire ("To meet death") Mortem obi (Die, you!) Mortem obite (All of you die!) There's not a Latin construction such as "Death to the ____". You can express this as a command using the imperative singular or plural as needed. For example, to say, "Death to the Government!" would be "Administratio moretem obi!" But you could also say: Interficere (Die!) Interficimini (All of you die!) GLOSSARY: colluvio, colluvionis/colluvies (3rd declension feminine noun, no genitive form) "midden, dregs, impurities, filth, rabble" cultura, culturae (1st declension feminine noun) "culture" -- culturae (genitive singular) "of culture, cultural" interficio, interficere, interfeci, interfectum (4th conjugation verb) "to destroy, to kill" -- interficere (passive imperative singular) "you get killed!, you die!" -- interficimini (passive imperative plural) "you all get killed! you all die!" locus, loci (2nd declension masculine noun) "ground, place, site, spot" mors, mortis (3rd declension feminine noun) "death" -- mortem obire (phrase) "to meet death" obeo, obire, obivi, obitum (4th conjugation verb) "to meet" -- obi (imperative singular) "you meet!" -- obite (imperative plural) "you all meet!" cc: Stefan li Rous for his Florilegium Files ::GUNNORA:: Subject: Possum te dicere sed deinde compulero te interficere / Tot homines, tam pauci cognitiones Date: Sun, 16 May 1999 04:06:51 MST From: Gunnora Hallakarva To: Tim Klassen >1. "I could tell you, but I'd have to kill you" > "Si disuissem tu, necavissem tu." Possum te dicere sed deinde compulero te interficere. "I could tell you, but then I would be forced to kill you." You can say this in a more streamlined fashion as: "Possum dicere sed deinde compulero interficere." Here the direct object, "you" is simply understood from context. >2. "So many men, so few ideas" > "Quot homines pauci sententiae" This one is fairly straightforward, since Latin has several special-purpose adverbs that do the trick in one easy word: Tot homines, tam pauci cognitiones. GLOSSARY: cognitio, cognitionis (3rd declension feminine noun) "idea, notion, insight" -- cognitiones (nominative plural) "ideas" compello, compellere, compuli, compulsum (3rd conjugation verb) "to force, to compel" -- compulero (1st person singular future perfect) "I will be compelled" deinde (adverb of time) - then dico, dicere, dixi, dictum (3rd conjugation verb) "to tell, to say" -- dicere (infinitive) "to tell" homo, hominis (3rd declension male or female noun) "human being, person, man in the universal sense" -- homines (nominative plural) "men, people" interficio, interficere, interfeci, interfectum (4th conjugation verb) "to destroy, to kill" -- interficere (infinitive) "to kill" paucus, pauca, paucum (adjective) "few" -- pauci (nominative plural) "a few" possum, posse, potui (irregular verb) "to be able" -- possum (1st person singular present tense) "I am able, I could" tam (adverb used before an adjective) "so" tot (indecl. adjective) "so many" tu, tui (second person personal pronoun) "you" -- te (accusative singular, direct object) "you" cc: Stefan li Rous for his Florilegium Files Gunnora Hallakarva Baroness to the Court of Ansteorra Subject: Ministerium se preaevenit Date: Sun, 16 May 1999 04:18:04 MST From: Gunnora Hallakarva To: Scadian636@aol.com >I was wondering if you could translate the following into Latin: >"Service Before Self" Ministerium se preaevenit. GLOSSARY: ministerium, ministerii (2nd declension neuter noun) "service, work, an office, occupation, employment" -- ministerium (nominative singular used as subject) "service" praevenio, praevenire, praeveni, praeventum (4th conjugation verb) "to come before, to preceed" -- preaevenit (3rd person singular present tense) "it comes before" sui, sibi, se (3rd person reflexive pronoun) "oneself" -- se (accusative singular) "oneself" cc: Stefan li Rous for his Florilegium Files Gunnora Hallakarva Baroness to the Court of Ansteorra Subject: Multi eunt, pauci intellegunt. Date: Sun, 16 May 99 04:28:40 MST From: Gunnora Hallakarva To: "Allen Paves" > I hope i'm sending this to the right place. Could anyone help me out >and translate the following phrase into Latin. "Many people go, but few >understand" The phrase you want is: Multi eunt, sed pauci intellegunt. You can actually say this more elegantly by leaving out the "but": Multi eunt, pauci intellegunt. "Many go, few understand". GLOSSARY eo, ire, ivi, itum (irregular verb) "to go" -- eunt (3rd person plural present tense) "they go" intellego, intellegere, intellexi, intellectum (3rd conjugation verb) "to understand, perceive, deiscern, comprehend, gather, realize, recognize, have an accurate knowledge of, be an expert in" -- intellegunt (3rd person plural present tense) "they understand" multi, multorum (2nd declension plural noun) "many, many men, many people, the masses, the multitude" paucus, pauca, paucum (adjective) "few" -- pauci (nominative plural) "a few" cc: Stefan li Rous for his Florilegium Files Gunnora Hallakarva Baroness to the Court of Ansteorra Subject: Latin Phrases for Engraving Inside Wedding Rings Date: Sun, 16 May 99 04:41:56 MST From: Gunnora Hallakarva To: "bkmca" > I wanted to engrave my fiances wedding ring with a > Latin phrase but can't find one appropriate. > Something like "forever" or "my heart is yours" > or love and fidelity forever or anything mushy like that. Forever - "Semper" Forever faithful - "Semper fidelis" Forever yours - "Semper tua" (addressed to a woman), "Semper tuus" (addressed to a man). My heart is yours - "Cor meum tua est" (addressed to a woman), "Cor meum tuus est" (addressed to a man) Love and fidelity forever - "Semper amor fidelitasque" GLOSSARY amor, amoris (3rd declension masculine noun) "love, affection" cor, cordis (3rd declension neuter noun) "heart, mind, soul" fidelis, fidele (adjective) "faithful, loyal, trustworthy, true" fidelitas, fidelitatis (3rd declension feminine noun) "fidelity" meus, mea, meum (1st person possessive pronoun) "my" semper (adverb) "always, forever" tuus, tua, tuum (2nd person possessive pronoun) "yours" cc: Stefan li Rous for his Florilegium Files Gunnora Hallakarva Baroness to the Court of Ansteorra Subject: Ad praestantius faciebar Date: Sun, 16 May 99 04:55:10 MST From: Gunnora Hallakarva To: "Mark.S Harris (rsve60)" > I am looking for a latin motto that I had seen in a recent Sports > Illustrated article, but I lost the reference. I came across the > "www.pbm.com/~lindahl/rialto/mottoes-msg.html" site, and thought you might > have the answer. Translated the phrase means something like "I was made > for better (work) than this", it started with "Ad", and was three words. > Do you know the complete phrase? It's not a familiar phrase, and you can say it any of a dozen ways in Latin. Your best bet is to check the local library stacks for back issues of Sports Illustrated to find the article. Half Price Books is another option. Meanwhile, here's my best shot: Ad praestantius faciebar. "I was made for greater things." GLOSSARY: ad (proposition requiring an accusative object) "to, towards, for the purpose of" facio, facere, feci, fectum (3rd conjugation verb) "to make, fashion, create, build, do, perform" -- faciebar (1st person passive indicative imperfect) "I was made" praestantior, praestatius (comparative adjective) "more excellent, superior, preeminent" -- praestantius (accusative singular used as object of preposition) cc: Stefan li Rous for his Florilegium Files Gunnora Hallakarva Baroness to the Court of Ansteorra Subject: Somnium somnia quasi semper vives. Vive quasi hodie moriebar. Date: Sun, 16 May 99 05:13:15 MST From: Gunnora Hallakarva To: ruppy@atu.com.au > i was wondering if you could translate this quote for me, said by James Dean > "Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today." Although I much doubt that James Dean knew any Latin, here goes: Somnium somnia quasi semper vives. Vive quasi hodie moriebar. GLOSSARY: hodie (adverb) "today, now, immediately" morior, mori, mortuus sum (4th conjugation deponent verb) "to die" -- moriebar (2nd person singular future tense) "you will die" quasi (conjunction) "as if, just as if, as though" semper (adverb) "always, forever" somnio, somniare (1st conjugation verb) "to dream of, dream about" -- somnia (imperative singular present tense) "you dream!" -- somnium somniare (phrase) "to have a dream" vivo, vivere, vixi, victum (3rd conjugation verb) "to live, be alive, survive" -- vives (2nd person singular future tense) "you will live" -- vive (imperative singular present tense) "you live!" cc: Stefan li Rous for his Florilegium Files ::GUNNORA:: Subject: Re: Somnium somnia quasi semper vives. Vive quasi hodie moriebar. Date: Sun, 16 May 1999 12:05:23 MST From: Gunnora Hallakarva To: ruppy@atu.com.au > i also asked another person to translate the very same quote >for me, mainly cause i had seen words in latin writen differently, the person >translated it and here is what they came up with. > >-Somniate velut si semper vivatis; vivite velut si hodie moriamini.- > >and here is your translation, both a very similar, but if u have time could u >tell me why some of it is a bit different and which is more correct > >-Somnium somnia quasi semper vives. Vive quasi hodie moriebar.- > >"Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today." It's just like English - you can say the same thing in many different ways. Your friend has used the imperative plural forms of "somniate" and "vivite", meaning "you all dream of! (command)" and "you all live! (command). I used the imperative singular forms, addressing the phrase to a single listener instead of many -- "somnium somnia" - "you dream a dream! (command)" and "vive" - "you live! (command)". In addition, the verb "somniare" is a construction that means "to dream of" or to dream about" and it requires an object. Latin doesn't actually have a word that means "dream" as we use it, the Romans always used the phrase "I dreamed a dream" or "I dreamed of my mother". Your friend's translation would translate "You all must dream of as if you all will live forever..." Your friend has translated "as if" awkwardly. This is probably due to a simple infamiliarity with the more complex Latin adverbs. Latin "quasi" means literally, "as if" and is more correct in usage here. The last difference is in the verbs "live" and "die" -- your friend used the the second person plural, again addressing more than one person: vivatis ("you all will live") and moriamini ("you all will die"), while my version uses the second person singular, addressing a single listener, vives ("you will live") and moriebar ("you will die"). cc: Stefan li Rous for his Florilegium Files Gunnora Hallakarva Baroness to the Court of Ansteorra Subject: Re: Translation ... please! Date: Fri, 21 May 1999 13:59:19 MST From: "C.L. Ward" To: "Steffen & Camilla" You asked for translation of a variety of mottoes for your fraternity. In the days when Latin was the language of scholars such as yourself, mottos and fraternities alike were formed for noble purposes, and fraternites usually selected mottoes that reflected laudable and serious aims that reflected the noble purposes of the fraternity. Check out the official mottoes of older fraternities - you will quickly see what I mean. I'm sorry to see that the purpose of your fraternity seems to be so frivolous. Were it me, I'd aim higher with both the motto and the fraternity. You'll find that even fraternities that had noble and lofty mottoes and purposes still managed to have fun, then and now. None the less, here are the translations you requested. Note that the concept of "voluptas" is completely 180 degrees apart from the prized Roman virtue of gravitas. The distinction is between bestial copulation and noble human purpose and gravity. > devoted to pure pleasure Voluptatibus meris studere. This one has a sort of double-entendre going on and is closest to the sort of joke a medieval fraternity might have made, since "studere" implies "study" and "studiousness" as well as devotion. > in joy we trust Gaudio credimus. You may see the similarity in this one to the well-known medieval student song, "Gaudeamus igitur" -- Brahms used the melody to this song as the climax to his 1860 composition, "Academic Festival Overture". > our common cause - our ultimate pleasure Causae nostrae communis, voluptes nostrae ultimae. > the meaning of life? - close enough! This doesn't make any sense even in English. Latin doesn't lend itself well to modern colloquialisms in general. If you can expres this as a complete sentence, I might could do something with it. > satisfaction! Voluptes! GLOSSARY studeo, studere, studeui (2nd conjugation verb requiring dative object) "to devote oneself to, be eager for, take pains with, enthusiastic about" voluptas, voluptatis (3rd declension feminine noun) "pleasure, (feeling of) satisfaction" -- voluptes (nominative plural) "sensual pleasures, games, sports" -- volupatibus (dative plural) merus, mera, merum (adjective) "pure, unmixed, undiluted" -- meris (feminine dative plural) in (preposition requiring an ablative object) "in, into" gaudium, gaudii (2nd declension neuter noun) "joy, gladness, delight, sensual pleasure" -- gaudio (singular dative) credo, credere, credidi, creditum (3rd conjugation verb requiring dative direct object) "to trust in, to believe, to put faith in" -- credimus (1st person plural nominative) "we trust in" communis (plural adjective) "in general, common" causa, causae (1st declension feminine noun) "cause, motive, purpose, reason" noster, nostra, nostrum (1st person plural possessive pronoun) "our" ultimus, utltima, ultimum (adjective) "ultimate" -- ultimae (feminine nominative plural) Gunnora Hallakarva Baroness to the Court of Ansteorra Subject: ANST - Ut exemplar ad omnia eminet. Date: Wed, 26 May 1999 06:27:10 MST From: "C.L. Ward" To: ansteorra@Ansteorra.ORG Robert Fitzmorgan asked: >Can someone please give me the Latin for these phrases? > >"And stands as an example to us all." >"An example to us all" You really cannot say "And stands as an example to us all" in Latin. It's not even a real sentence in English, for that matter. Neither of the phrases you gave is grammatically independent. You could say "He stands as an example to us all" or "They stand as an example to us all" This would be: Ut exemplar ad omnia eminet. GLOSSARY emineo, eminere, eminui (2nd conjugation verb) "to stand out, project, be conspicuous" -- eminet (3rd person singular) "he/she/it stands" ut (comparative conjugation) "as" exemplar, exemplaris (3rd declension neuter noun) "example, model, pattern, ideal" ad (preposition requiring an accusative object) "to" omnia, omnium (3rd declension plural neuter noun) "all, everyone, all of us" -- omnia (accusative case used as object of preposition) cc: Stefan li Rous for his Florilegium Files Gunnora Hallakarva Baroness to the Court of Ansteorra Subject: Mater Terra me curat, Eam curoque/Aqua sub ponte omnis est/Portus pacis Date: Wed, 09 Jun 1999 16:06:56 MST From: "C. L. Ward" To: luegge@inetplus.net >Hello, if you are still in the business of translating things into >latin, would you mind taking a crack at these? It's a hobby. If it were a business, I'd be getting paid for it. ;-) >"The Earth is my mother, she takes care of me. The Earth is my mother, I >take care of her." -or- just "The Earth is my mother" It is much more elegant to say, "Mother Earth takes care of me, and I take care of Her." And in fact in Latin, since word order is irrelevant, you end up saying it that way anyway. "Mother Earth takes care of me, and I take care of Her." Mater Terra me curat, Eam curoque. "The Earth is my mother, she takes care of me. The Earth is my mother, I take care of her." Terra mater mea est, me curat. Terra mater mea est, eam curo. "The Earth is my mother." Terra mater mea est. >"It's all water under the bridge" Aqua sub ponte omnis est. >"haven of peace" Portus pacis. >"peaceful haven" Portus placidus. GLOSSARY: aqua, aquae (1st declension feminine noun) "water" -- aqua (nominative singular used as subject or with subject) curo, curare (1st conjugation verb) "to take care of, look after -- curat (3rd person singular present tense) "he/she/it takes care of" ego (1st person personal pronoun) "I" -- me (accusative used as direct object) "me" is, ea, id (third person demonstrative pronoun) "he/she/it" -- eam (feminine accusative used as direct object) "her" mater, matris (3rd declension feminine noun) "mother" -- mater (nominative singular used as subject or with subject) meus, mea, meum (possessive 1st person personal pronoun) "my" -- meus (refers to a man or male object -- mea refers to a woman or female object -- meum refers to a neuter object omnis, omne (adjective) "all, every, the whole" -- omnis (nominative singular used as subject or with subject) pax, pacis (3rd declension feminine noun) - "peace, harmony, tranquility" -- pacis (genitive singular used as possive noun) "of peace" placidus, placida, placidum (adjective) - "peaceful, tranquil, placid, calm, gentle, quiet" pons, pontis (3rd declension masculine noun) "bridge, drawbridge, gangway, deck" -- ponte (ablative singular used as object of preposition) portus, portus (4th declension masculine noun) "port, harbor, haven, refuge" -- portus (nominative singular used as subject or with subject) sub (preposition requiring ablative object) "under, beneath, underneath" sum, esse, fui, futurus (irregular conjugation verb) "to be" Terra, Terrae (1st declension feminine proper noun) - the Earth, especially in the sense of the goddess Earth. cc: Stefan li Rous for his Florilegium Files Gunnora Hallakarva, OL Baroness to the Court of Ansteorra Subject: Tempus Edax Rerum -- Nunc est Bibendum Date: Thu, 01 Jul 1999 11:12:16 MST From: "C. L. Ward" To: "Mark.S Harris (rsve60)" > Tempus Edax Rerum Nunc est Bibendum Although not a perfectly literal translation, this phrase means "Time is the devourer of all things -- now is the time for drinking." In reality, this is a compilation of two famous Latin phrases. "Tempus edax rerum" is a famous epigram attributed to the poet Ovid (43 BC - 18 AD), and means "Time, the devourer of all things". "Nunc est bibendum" is a separate phrase. It is not, strictly speaking, grammatically correct: "bibendum" is an accusative gerund. Gerunds are nouns formed from a verb root, and in Latin these are always declined as a second declension noun and used only in the singular. When an accusative case gerund is found in Latin, it must properly be used as the object of a preposition which requires an accusative noun. Most commonly a gerud is used as the object of the preposition "ad" to express purpose, as in "ad bibendum", "for drinking". I have to assume here that the usage is so common that the "ad" has been dropped, and that the gerund must still be interpreted as a causative, so that the phrase would translate as "Now is (the time) for drinking" The source of the phrase "Nunc est bibendum is The Odes of Horace, Book I, verse 37 (http://harvest.ablah.twsu.edu/): Nunc est bibendum, nunc pede libero pulsanda tellus, nunc Saliaribus ornare pulvinar deorum tempus erat dapibus, sodales. antehac nefas depromere Caecubum cellis avitis, dum Capitolio regina dementis ruinas funus et impero parabat contaminato cum grege turpium morbo virorum, quidlibet impotens sperare fortunaque dulci ebria. sed minuit furorem vix una sospes navis ab ignibus, mentemque lymphatam Mareotico redegit in veros timores Caesar ab Italia volantem remis adurgens, accipiter velut mollis columbas aur leporem citus venator in campis nivalis Haemoniae, daret ut catenis fatale monstrum; quae generosium perire quaerens nec muliebriter expavit ensem nec latentis classe cita reparavit oras; ausa et iacentem visere regiam vultu sereno, fortis et asperas tractare serpentis, ut atrum corpore combiberet venenum, deliberata moret ferocior, saevis Liburnis scilicet invidens privata deduci superbo non humilis mulier triumpho. An interesting modern note, the Michelin Tire Company's famous "Michelin Man" mascot's name is Bibendum. The mascot's name Bibendum tied in with an old Michelin slogan "Michelin tires swallow up all obstacles". The easily recognizable Bibendum was born in 1898 when Edouard Michelin saw a display of tires stacked on top of each other that seemed to form the body of a human being. His brother Andre commissioned an artist to prepare a number of sketches, based on the concept, one of which pictured Bibendum as a rotund beer drinker, who lifting his glass, shouted, "Nunc est bibendum!" -- "Now is the time to drink!" The slogan reminded the brothers of the slogan the company was currently using: "Michelin Tires swallow up all obstacles." Eventually, Bib's beer bottle was replaced with a champagne glass filled with tire-destroying nails and glass (http://www.michelin.ca/ca/eng/monde/magazine/jan98/affiche.htm). GLOSSARY bibo, bibere (3rd conjugation verb) to drink -- bibendum (accusative case gerund) drinking, for drinking edax (adjective) devouring, gluttonous, destructive nunc (adverb) now, nowadays, today res, rei (5th conjugation e-stem feminine noun) thing, matter, fact, affair, event, act, deed, exploit, circumstance, condition, action, reason -- rerum (genitive plural) sum, esse, fui, futurus (irregular verb) "to be" -- est (3rd person singular) he/she/it is tempus, temporis (3rd declension neuter noun) temple of the head, time, season, period, occasion -- tempus (nominative singular) cc: Stefan li Rous for his Florilegium Files Gunnora Hallakarva, OL Baroness to the Court of Ansteorra Subject: Necessarius Satisque Est Date: Fri, 02 Jul 1999 12:46:32 MST From: "C. L. Ward" To: Dmitry Kuraev Zdravstvuyte! >Is there any Latin saying with the meaning "Necessary and Sufficient >(Enough)"? Of course, "Necessary and Sufficient" is a sentence fragment. The full sentence would be something along the lines of "(It is) Necessary and Sufficient". This would be: Necessarius Satisque Est GLOSSARY necessarius, necessaria, necessarium (adjective) "needful, necessary, requisite" -que (enclitic conjunction) "and" (added to the end of a word as a suffix) satis (indeclinable adjective) "enough, sufficient, adequate" sum, esse, fui, futurus (irregular verb) "to be" -- est (3rd person singular) he/she/it is cc: Stefan li Rous for his Florilegium Files Gunnora Hallakarva, OL Baroness to the Court of Ansteorra Subject: Finem Respice Date: Fri, 02 Jul 1999 22:08:15 MST From: "C. L. Ward" To: glmorton@interact.net.au glmorton wrote: > please give me an english translation for a Primary School Motto-:finem > respice. Many thanks,LYN. Finem Respice could be translated a couple of ways. It could mean both "Consider the goal" or "Look back at where you started". To know the exact usage, I'd have to know more about when and how it was used, particularly if it appears in the context of a larger Latin phrase. GLOSSARY finis, finis (3rd declension I-stem masculine noun) "boundary, border, limit, end, pupose, aim, extreme limit, summit, highest degree, starting point, goal" -- finem (accusative singular) -- direct object of the sentence respicio, respicere, respexi, respectum (4th conjugation verb) "to look back at, see behind oneself, look back for, look around for, look back upon (the past), look at, gaze at, look upon, regard, contemplate, consider, notice, look after, take care of, see to" -- respice (imperative singular) "(you) consider!" or "(you) look back upon!" (command) cc: Stefan li Rous for his Florilegium Files Gunnora Hallakarva, OL Baroness to the Court of Ansteorra Subject: Qui Audet Adipiscitur Date: Fri, 23 Jul 1999 18:53:47 MST From: "C. L. Ward" To: meangreen@altavista.net >What, if any, difference would there be in the translations of these two >phrases? > >1) He who dares, wins >2) Who dares, wins It is an issue of grammar. In Latin, you do not say, "I love" it's a single word, "amo". Similarly, it's not "he dares" but "audet". Unlike English, the pronoun is inherent in the verb -- the form of the verb changes to indicate first, second or third person, singular or plural, as well as changing form to show tense and so forth. Therefore, the two phrases above are exactly equivalent in the Latin, which would be: Qui audet adipiscitur. Of course, in Latin, word order doesn't matter at all. Therefore the sentence above ALSO means, "He who wins, dares". GLOSSARY: adipiscor, adipisci, adeptus sum (passive verb) "to reach, obtain, get, win" -- adipiscitur "he/she/it wins" audeo, audere, ausus sum (2nd conjugation verb) ""to dare, venture, risk" -- audet "he/she/it dares" qui (relative pronoun) "who, that" cc: Stefan li Rous for his Florilegium Files ::GUNNORA:: Subject: Re: Latin mottoes Date: Mon, 16 Aug 99 09:01:24 MST From: "C. L. Ward" To: "Lisa Alesci" > I found your site while trying to research two Latin mottoes. You are > obviously the person to ask, so I am humbly asking for your assistance... > We are providing a translation of some Costa Rican academic documents and > the crests bear the following mottoes: Lux Est Vita and Luxem Aspicio (or > perhaps it's Aspicto - the print is minute). Although we'd be curious > about the translation, it is not critical to the service we're providing, > but we do want to be accurate when referring to the crests. Could I > possibly impose on you to cast your eye over these mottoes and let me have > your comments. I'd be so grateful. Many thanks in advance. Lux Est Vita is both "Light is Life" and "Life is Light" Luxem Aspicio is "I aspire to the light" or "I look to the light" cc: Stefan li Rous for his Florilegium Files Gunnora Hallakarva, OL Baroness to the Court of Ansteorra Subject: Semper Cupiens Cupiendusque / Generosus Fidei Factique Date: Thu, 16 Sep 1999 06:16:40 MST From: "C. L. Ward" To: "Mark.S Harris (rsve60)" HL Elianor de Morland of Meridies asked: >Someone once gave me the motto Semper Cupiens Semper Cupitus, >which I was told meant "always longing, always longed for"... I don't think the translation is quite right. "Cupitus" isn't a reasonable word, I don't think, unless some how it's derived from "cupitor" which means "daydreamer". I'd make it: Semper Cupiens Cupiendusque ("Always longing and longed for") --or-- Semper Desiderans Desideratusque ("Always longing and longed for") Most Latin sentences didn't repeat "helper" type words unless for specific emphasis, or to fit the requirements of a poetic meter, so often related concepts would be connected via a conjunction such as "and". --or-- Semper Cupiens, Semper Cupiendus ("Always longing, always longed for") --or-- Semper Desiderans, Semper Desideratus ("Always longing, always longed for") >I would like a motto for my lord. He is a very noble and >honest man and I would like for him the motto, "noble in word, >noble in deed". It suits him, but I can't translate it... It's interesting to look at the Latin words glossed as "noble". The obvious term, "nobilis" and the related term "praeclarus" really implies fame, or being well-known, which is of course one aspect of being noble. "Ingenuus" is the word which gives us English "ingenue" (an innocent, inexperienced, unworldly young woman) and "ingenuous" (frank, open, candid, simple, artless, naive, without guile) is derived from the concept of "in-born" and connotes something which is native, natural, but also noble (since nobility is supposed to be a quality bestowed by one's noble breeding). Then there is "optimas" which comes from the superlative of the word "good" meaning "best" -- it indicates a noble as one of the "best people", an aristocrat, but says nothing of the noble's inner nobility. Probably the best term to capture our modern understanding of "nobility, nobility of spirit" is "generosus". "Generosus" gives us our modern English word "generous", and of course, liberal generosity is one of the hallmarks of a noble or king in medieval thought. The root of this Latin term is "beget, procreate, breed" implying that the noble is "of good stock, highborn", but alone of the terms I found for "noble", "generosus" also carries the sense of "noble-acting, noble-minded". Taken all together, it's easy to see what Romans expected of their nobility: they must be nobly-born, of good family and breeding, frank and forthright, well-known to the people, generous, and acting with nobility of spirit. "Noble in Word, Noble in Deed" would therefore be translated as: Generosus Fidei Factique Sum ("I am noble of word and deed") --or-- Generosus Fidei Factique ("Noble of word and deed") --or-- Generosus Fidei, Generosus Facti ("Noble of word, noble of deed") GLOSSARY cupio, cupiere, cupivi, cupitum (3rd conjugation verb) "to wish, to be eager for, to long for, to desire" -- cupiens (present participle) "longing (for)" -- cupiendus (passive future participle) "to be longed for" cupitor, cupitoris (3rd declension masculine noun) "daydreamer" desidero, desiderare (1st conjugation verb) "to miss, long for, feel the want of" -- desiderans (present participle) "longing (for)" -- desideratus (passive future participle) "to be longed for" facinus, facinoris (2nd declension neuter noun) "deed, action, crime, villany" facio, facere, feci, factum (3rd conjugation verb) "make, build, bring about" -- factus, facta, factum (perfect passive participle) "deed, act, accomplishment, exploit" -- facti (masculine genitive singular) "of the deed" fides, fidei (5th declension feminine noun) "word, word of honor, promise, given word, trust, faith, reliance -- fidei (genitive singular) "of the given word" generosus, generosa, generosum (adjective) "of good stock, highborn, noble, noble-acting, noble-minded" ingenuus, ingenua, ingenuum (adjective) "native, indigenous, natural, free-born, like a freeman, noble, frank, blunt" ingenuitas, ingenuatatis (feminine noun) "noble birth, noble character, frankness" optimas, optimatis (?? masculine noun) "aristocrat" nobilis, nobile (adjective) "known, noted, notorious, noble" praeclarus, praeclara, praeclarum (adjective) "splendid, noble, distinguished, excellent, famous, distinguished, notorious" -que (suffix conjunction) "and" semper (adverb) "always" cc: Stefan li Rous for his Florilegium Files Baroness Gunnora Hallakarva, OL Ansteorra Subject: Gradui Dirigens Omnia Est Date: Sat, 25 Sep 1999 06:40:05 MST From: "C. L. Ward" To: "Mark.S Harris (rsve60)" aliskye@pacbell.net wrote: > Gaudeamus igitur dum iuvenes sumus. Post iucundam iuventutem, post > molestam senectutem, nos habebit humus. ... > But they want to make sure the latin is all spelled correctly The full words to the song are located at: http://www.lunaburgia.de/liedertexte/0012.htm > And if anyone is interested in helping me, I'd love to > get the latin for "Timing is Everthing" which is my motto. I can't figure out a way to say this in Latin. There is no concept of "timing" when the best time-keeping instruments you have are the solarium (sundial) and horologium (water clock). Turning to my dictionary, this use of "timing" means "to set tempo, speed or duration of", while the thesaurus equates the concept with "scheduling". You might could say something like: Setting the pace is everything Gradui Dirigens Omnia Est GLOSSARY dirigo, dirigere, direxi, directum (3rd conjugation verb short e) "to set, deploy, put in order, arrange" -- dirigens (participle) "setting" gradus, gradus (4th declension masculine noun) "pace, progress" -- gradui (dative singular used as direct object) "pace" omnis, omne (adjective) "all" -- omnia (neuter plural nominative used as a pronoun) "everything" sum, esse, fui, futuri (irregular verb) "to be" -- est (3rd person singular present tense) "he/she/it is" Gunnora Hallakarva, OL Ansteorra Subject: Re: (no subject) Date: Thu, 30 Sep 1999 10:00:27 MST From: "C.L. Ward" To: MmeFouFou@aol.com >Would you be so kind as to translate this Latin phrase for me. I am stumped. >Uva uvam vivendo varia fit. This is a similar sentiment to, "You can't make an omelet without breaking eggs" and also to, "Time doesn't stand still." Uva uvam vivendo varia fit. For the grape to continue living, it ripens. GLOSSARY fio, fieri, factus sum (irregular verb) "to come into being, arise, to be made, become, get, to happen" -- fit (3rd person singular present tense) "he/she/it becomes" -- fit varia (phrase) "becomes colored, ripens, changes color" uva, uvae (1st declension feminine noun) "grape, bunch of grapes; cluster of bees" -- uvam (singular accusative) varius, varia, varium (adjective) "colored, varigated, spotted, striped, different, varying" vivo, vivere, vixi, victum (3rd conjugation verb) "to be alive, to live, to still be alive, to survive, to subsist upon" -- vivendo (gerund, dative case) "to/for living" ::GUNNORA:: cc: Stefan li Rous for his Florilegium Files Date: Mon, 11 Oct 1999 15:31:59 MST From: "C.L. Ward" Subject: Re: Request quick Latin check! Please? To: Donna Wong Fox >We were thinking of dropping some of those pithy archaic >maxims into a slideshow presentation. I could easily do >it in French (I live in Quebec, after all), but we thought >they would carry more oomph in Latin. Unfortunately, >since Latin is not my lingua franca (heh), I think we need >a check for correct gender, tense and sense. Could you kindly >look over these 3 Latin phrases and suggest better usage >of terms? >I. "We irradiate the Earth with silliness" >Sapientia leves terras irradumus > >I know this isn't the correct sense for silliness or trivia, >but all the Latin words I could come up for it also had the >inherent, undesirable meanings for stupidity, foolishness, >dolt, etc. Actually, we were looking for something that >meant "Silly fun" or "Wise nonsense" that was, at the same >time, also a play-on-words for sapientia or scientia! >Maybe the Greek/Roman words for "divine madness" (if there >is one) or "left-handed knowledge" or "trivial/frivolous >wisdom" would do as well? There are several problems with this. The word you want for "silliness" is "ridiculo" which has none of the negative connotations you found for other terms. The medieval Latin word "irradiare" describes an object illuminated by rays of sunlight. I think you want a word that means "we completely saturate with" or "cover all of", which would be "imbuere" Your grammatical structure is way off as well. Try this instead: Terram cum ridiculo imbuimus. (We saturate the earth with silliness.) GLOSSARY: cum (preposition requiring an ablative object) "with" imbuo, imbuere, imbui, imbutum (3rd conjugation verb) "to saturate, soak, imbue, steep, instruct, train, educate" -- imbuimus (1st person plural) "we imbue" levis, -e (adjective) "light, nimble, trivial, easy going, easy, simple, mild, gentle" [This is the term from which we get modern English words such as "levity".] ridiculus, -a, -um (adjective) "funny, amusing, laughable, ridiculous, silly, a joke" -- ridiculo (singular ablative used as object of preposition cum) Terra, Terrae (1st declension noun) "earth" -- terram (accusative singular used as direct object) trivialis (adjective) "of the crossroads, hence commonplace, unimportant or insignificant; under the care of the goddess Diana who was also known as Trivia". [From these terms comes the modern English word "trivia".] --------------------- >II. "It flies with its own wings: not just for self, but for all" >Alit volat propriis: non sibi sed omnibus. > >I think of this an an allusion to how Creativity, inspiration, Hope >etc. are depicted as flying on wings. But the gender is probably >incorrect, there... It's traditionally feminine, isn't it, but we want >the neutral 3rd person pronoun. You can't always use the gender you'd like in a Latin sentence. Gender is not always indicative that a thing is female, anymore than you look at a pen and assume that it is female (despite the fact that "la pluma " is feminine in gender in Spanish, for example). Nor is a ship thought of as being literally female, though they are properly addressed even in English as "she". Note that the full colon in the original sentence is incorrect -- there is no verb in the second phrase, nor is it grammatically a separate clause. And in Latin such punctuation is totally superfluous, as the form of each word clearly indicates its grammatical use. Again, your grammatical structure is lacking here. Latin is more highly inflected than are modern languages. Try this: Cum ala sui non modo pro se sed etiam pro omnibus volat. (It flies with wings of its own not only for itself, but also for all.) GLOSSARY: ala, alae (1st declension feminine noun) "wing" -- ala (ablative used as object of the preposition cum) cum (preposition requiring an ablative object) "with" non modo... sed etiam (phrase) "not only... but also" omnis, omne (adjective) "all" -- omnibus (neuter ablative plural) pro (preposition requiring ablative object) "for, on behalf of" sui (3rd person reflexive pronoun) "itself" -- se (ablative singular) suus, -a, -um (3rd person possessive pronoun) -- sui (neuter reflexive pronoun) "its own" volo, volare (1st conjugation verb) "to fly" -- volat (3rd person singular) "he/she/it flies" --------------------- >III. "It's enough for those who laugh." >Risi satis > >Does that say what we mean it to say? Or does it >mean "Laughter is enough"? For starters, what your English sentence says is, "It is enough for those who laugh". Your Latin completely lacks the verb. Try this instead: Satis est pro quoquo rideunt. (It is enough for those who laugh). GLOSSARY: pro (preposition requiring ablative object) "for, on behalf of" quisquis (pronoun) "every one who, whosoever" -- quoquo (ablative) rideo, ridere, risi, risum (3rd conjugation verb) "to laugh" -- rideunt (3rd person plural) "they laugh" satis (indeclinable adjective) "enough, sufficient" sum, esse fui, futurus est (irregular verb) "to be" -- est (3rd person singular) "he/she/it is" ::GUNNORA:: cc: Stefan li Rous for his Florilegium Files Date: Thu, 11 Nov 1999 16:43:29 MST From: "C.L. Ward" Subject: Re: latin translations To: trevorg@telusplanet.net, "Mark.S Harris (rsve60)" trevor goshko wrote: >I am looking for the latin translation of the > phrase "i am him, he is me". This isn't really something you can say well in Latin. In English, there is a grammatical difference between the subject and object. In Latin, there is not in a sentence which uses the verb "to be". And in Latin, there is generally no word order -- the word forms tell you what part of speech each item is. For instance, the famous phrase: Vino est Vita (Wine is Life) can also be read as: Vita est Vino (Life is Wine) Both are correct. Next there is the fact that in general, Latin doesn't require pronouns such as "I" and "he" because the pronoun is implicit in the form of the verb: Amo (I love) Amas (you love) Amat (he/she/it loves) Amamus (we love) Amatis (you all love) Amant (they love) The closest you can come to your phrase would be: Hic Sum, Ego Est. But also equivalent would be: Ego Hic Sum. GLOSSARY ego, mei (1st person personal pronoun) "I, me" -- ego (nominative singular) "I" hic, haec, hoc (demonstrative pronoun) -- hic (male demonstrative pronoun nominative case) "he" sum, esse, fui, futurus (irregular verb) "to be" -- sum (1st person singular present tense) "I am" -- est (3rd person singular present tense) "he is" ::GUNNORA:: Subject: Expectationes Excede Date: Wed, 10 Nov 1999 19:50:43 -600 From: "C.L. Ward" To: Colin Forster CC: stefan@texas.net >I'd like to make a latin motto of 'Exceed Expectations', in >the sense of doing better than expected, giving more than >asked for etc. I'd appreciate your help. Expectationes Excede GLOSSARY: excedo, excedere, excessi, excessum (3rd conjugation verb) "to exceed, surpass" -- excede (imperative singular) "you exceed!" exspectatio, expectationis (3rd declension feminine noun) "expectation" -- expectationes (accusative plural) "expectations" cc: Stefan li Rous for his Florilegium Files Date: Tue, 30 Nov 1999 18:08:15 MST From: "C.L. Ward" Subject: Latin Translations from the Rialto To: "Mark.S Harris (rsve60)" Stefan, here's some more Latin translations, this time from a post I sent to the Rialto: Guiraud Belissen asked: >I have three questions about latin transaltions someone >gave me and I'ld like to check You have enough phrases here that I'm addressing each separately, with its own glossary attached. Three discussions, three glossaries... >Spes, Fide, Honor >Hope, Faith Honour The first question here is, what do you mean by "faith"? Is this being faithful and trustworthy? In this case, the noun is "fides", which also means "honor, honorable". Or is it having faith, especially religious faith? In that case the noun would be "religio". The second question is, what do you mean by "honor"? The Romans had the idea that if a person was granted public honors or rewarded, then that was essentially an outward sign of inner worthiness. Thus you see a lot of the "honor" words reflecting rewards of position or office, as well as monetary rewards, etc. There is also the sense of "honor" meaning "conduct worthy of fame and a good reputation" and this is reflected in the noun "fama". The correct phrase, using the word choices above, should be: Spes, Fides, Honor I would probably change it a bit were it me, to be: Spes, Religio, Fama or even Spes, Religio, Bona Fama GLOSSARY FOR "HOPE, FAITH, HONOR" --------------------------------- fama, famae (1st declension feminine noun) "rumor, reputation, fame, renown, glory" fides, fidei (5th declension feminine noun) "trust, faith, reliance, confidence, credence, belief, trustworthiness, honesty, promise, assurance, word of honor, honor, honorable, guarantee, safe conduct" honor or honos, honoris (3rd declension masculine noun) "honor, esteem, position, office, post, mark of honor, reward, fame, reputation' honestus, -a, -um (adjective) "honored, respected, honorable, decent, respectable, virtuous, a gentleman" religio, religionis (3rd declension feminine noun) "religious scruple, conscientiousness, sense of right, religion, sacred worship, object of veneration, divine service, religious observation" spes, spei (5th declension feminine noun) "hope, expectation, apprehension" ------------------ >Vive, Vale >Live, be valuable (with another meaning of Live well and good bye) This is a strange construction. Both verbs are in the imperative singular case, which is used for conveying commands to another, for example "(you must) live!" "Vive" is fine, it does in fact mean "(you) live!" as a command. "Vale" however really wouldn't convey the sense of "be valuable" to the listener. It was used in the sense of "be well!" or "be strong!" as is the case of farewells in many languages, cf. "fare thee well!" and "wassail" or "waes thu hael" (be thou well). I'd tend to translate the phrase above as "Live, Be Well" -- similar to the (in)famous "Live long and prosper" It's not a bad phrase, and it has symmetry to recommend it. Still, it doesn't seem to convey what you ask it to. If you want to indicate that making oneself valuable is a good thing in life, I'd suggest using instead: Vive, Aestimare. GLOSSARY FOR "LIVE, BE VALUABLE" -------------------------------- aestimo, aestimare (1st conjugation verb) "to value, to rate, to esteem, to judge" -- aestimare (passive imperative) "(you) be valuable!" valeo, valere, valui (2nd conjugation verb) "to be strong, vigorous, powerful, to be influential, to be adequate, to be of value, to be of worth -- vale! (imperative singular, usually used as a farewell) "goodbye" vivo, vivere, vixi, victum (3rd conjugation verb) "to to be alive, to live, to survive" -- vive! (imperative singular) "(you) live!" >De Re Hominem >Of human affairs (this one seems false, but I can't correct it) The question with this one is are we discussing a single human affair (which is how the sentence reads right now) or all human affairs? Here "human" is an adjective modifying the plural noun "affairs", so instead of "re" the noun should be "rebus". The word "hominem," above, is an accusative singular, but since it's being used as an adjective modifying "affairs" and since there must be agreement in gender, number, and case between an adjective and the noun it modifies, the word should be "hominibus" (the ablative plural) or maybe "humanis" (also ablative plural). Therefore the correct phrase would be: De Rebus Hominibus or De Rebus Humanis GLOSSARY FOR "OF HUMAN AFFAIRS" ------------------------------- de (preposition requiring an ablative object) "of, from, about, down, down from" homo, hominis (3rd declension noun) "man, human being, person, mortal, mankind, human race" -- homine (ablative singular) -- hominem (accusative singular) -- hominibus (ablative plural) humanus, humana (adjective) "human, humane, kind, compassionate" -- humanis (feminine ablative plural) res, rei (5th declension feminine noun) "thing, matter, affair, circumstance, occurrence, deed, condition" -- re (ablative singular) -- rebus (ablative plural) ::GUNNORA:: Baroness Gunnora Hallakarva, OL Ansteorra From: "C.L. Ward" To: stefan@texas.net Date: Mon, 6 Dec 1999 12:16:48 -600 Subject: Fwd: In Silentio Jurare Tamen Obligari This was posted to the Rialto... ****** Forwarded Message Follows ******* >To: msmith16@uswest.net >From: "C.L. Ward" >Date: Mon, 6 Dec 1999 11:58:51 -600 > >Morgunn mac Cormaic asked for a Latin translation of: >>"Oaths made in silence still return." >>Not to offend, but in case it matters, this means that an >>oath made in silence still is held, or one is still held to >>an oath made in silence. Regardless, of course, of who is >>holding said individual. >>I'd greatly appreciate an email at msmith16@uswest.net... > >First off, I have to disagree with you about oaths and silence. An oath is >a contract, and as such there must be more than one party to an oath. The oath >may between a king and a knight, between a husband and wife, between buyer and >seller, between man and god, but they always involve one who swears the oath, >and another to whom the oath is sworn. You'll note that the Latin word for >"oath", jusjurandum, reflects the idea of the oath as being a legal activity, >a contract. > >Therefore, to be valid an oath has to be communicated to both parties. If it >is not, it is not a contract, nor an oath. At most all it can be is your >personal promise *to yourself* that you will do whatever the terms of this >promise require. >Now, it's true that I think it's a bad idea to make a promise to yourself that >you cannot or will not keep. Never mind that millions do just that in setting >up New Year's resolutions. But I'd think you might want to reconsider about >your phrase. > >If you must have this phrase, then try: > >In Silentio Jurare Tamen Ab Jurejurando Obligari >"To swear in silence still is to be bound by the oath". > >or > >In Silentio Jurare Tamen Obligari >"To swear in silence still is to be bound". > >GLOSSARY >a, ab (preposition of agency requiring ablative object) 'by" >in (preposition reqiuiring an ablative object) "in, into" > >juro, jurare "to swear, swear by, attest, take an oath" with in+acc "to swear >alliegance to, swear to observe, vow obedience to, swear fealty to" > >jusjurandum, jurisjurandi (phrase) "oath" -- jurejurando (ablative) > >obligo, obligare (1st conjugation verb) "to bind, oblige, put under obligation" >-- obligari passive present infinitive" "to be bound, to be put under >obligation" > >redeo redire "return, come back" > >resilio, resilere "to rebound, recoil, spring back" > >resulto, resultare (1st conjugation verb) "to rebound, to resound, reverberate" > >silentium, silentii (2nd declension neuter noun) "silence, inactivity" -- >silentio (ablative singular) > >tamen (adverb) "yet, nevertheless, still" > >::GUNNORA:: Subject: Re: Latin Translation Date: Tue, 07 Dec 1999 09:39:05 MST From: "C.L. Ward" To: phil hancock CC: "Mark.S Harris (rsve60)" From: phil hancock >Came across your fascinating page today and wondered >if you could suggest a possible translation for " life >is too short to stuff a mushroom" Ah, but you are wrong. Stuffed mushrooms, especially those filled with crabmeat and similar delicacies, are one of life's great delights and one should always take time for such things! Still, I guess it takes all sorts. Your phrase is: Vita Nimium Brevis Est Saginare Fungos. GLOSSARY brevis, breve (adjective) "short, brief" fungus, fungi (2nd declension masculine noun) "mushroom, fungus" -- fungos (accusative plural) nimium (adverb) "too, too much, very" sagino, saginare (1st conjugation verb) "to stuff, to fatten" sum, esse, fui, futurus (irregular verb) "to be" -- est (3rd person singular present tense) "he/she/it is" vita, vitae (1st conjugation feminine noun) "life" cc: Stefan li Rous for his Florilegium files To: Marjorie Simmons From: "C.L. Ward" Date: Tue, 14 Dec 1999 12:24:29 -600 Subject: Carpe res legalis You asked for the following Latin translation: >The phrase is Seize the legal data. >Would it be carpe datum lex? No, the phrase you suggest would not be correct at all. Latin is inflected, which means that different grammar requires different word forms. While "lex" means "law" it specifically means "the word law used as a noun and as the subject of a sentence". It is not the adjectival form used to modify the object of a sentence, which is what is needed here. The Latin word datum (plural data) comes from the verb dare, and is the Perfect Passive Participle of the verb. Instead of the meaning we associate with the modern word, it means "having been given". The phrase you need is: Carpe res legalis. GLOSSARY carpo, carpere, carpese, carpetum (3rd conjugation verb) "to seize" -- carpe (imperative singular, command) "(you) seize!" do, dare, dedi, datus (1st conjugation verb) "to give, dedicate, ascribe, pay, grant, furnish, offer, lend, surrender" -- datus, data, datum (perfect passive participle of do, dare, declines like bonus) "having been given" legalis (from lex, legis + suffix -al, "of a, pertaining to a, in a condition of, in a state of") "legal, pertaining to law" -- legalis (accusative plural) res, rei (5th declension feminine noun) "thing, affair, object, deed, truth, fact" -- res (accusative plural) ::GUNNORA:: cc: Stefan li Rous for his Florilegium files From: gunnora@realtime.net To: stefan@texas.net Date: Wed, 15 Dec 1999 18:05:55 -600 Subject: Musam tuam invenite, fabulam tuam narrate. Tim Beck asked for a translation of: >Find your muse, Tell your tale Depending on whether you are addressing this command to a singular listener or to many listeners, it would be: Singular: Musam tuam inveni, fabulam tuam narra. Plural: Musam tuam invenite, fabulam tuam narrate. Glossary ======== fabula, fabulae (1st declension feminine noun) "story, tale, myth, legend, drama, play, dramatic poem" -- fabulam (accusative singular) invenio, invenire, inveni, inventum (irregular verb derived from eo, ire, ii, itum) "to come upon, find, come across, discover, find out, invent, devise" -- inveni (singular present imperative) "(you) find!" -- invenite (plural present imperative) "(you) find!" Musa, Musae (1st declension feminine proper noun) "Muse" but the singular also used to mean "poem, song, talent, genius" -- Musam (accusative singular) narro, narrare (1st conjugation verb) "to to tell, relate, narrate, account, describe, speak" -- narra (singular present imperative) "(you) tell!" -- narrate (plural present imperative) "(you) tell!" tuus, tua, tuum (2nd person singular possessive pronoun) "your" veter, vestra, vestrum (2nd person plural possessive pronoun) "your" Gunnora Hallakarva, OL cc: Stefan li Rous for his Florilegium files From: gunnora@realtime.net To: Kris White Cc: stefan@texas.net Date: Thu, 20 Apr 2000 09:00:37 -600 Subject: Ductores Magni >What is the Latin translation for GREAT LEADERS? You would use either: Duces Magni or Ductores Magni GLOSSARY ======== dux, ducis (3rd declension noun) "leader, conductor, guide, head, ringleader, general" [This word gives us the titles "Duke" and "Duchess"] -- duces (nominative ploural) "leaders" ductor, ductoris (3rd declension noun) "leader, commander, general, pilot, guide" -- ductores (nominative ploural) "leaders" magnus, magna, magnum (adjective) "great, large, important, momentous, significant, impressive, high, powerful, noble" -- magni (masculine nominative plural) ::GUNNORA:: From: gunnora@realtime.net To: Steven Sasenick Cc: stefan@texas.net Date: Thu, 20 Apr 2000 08:47:33 -600 Subject: Omnia Dubitate >a friend of mine always signs his email with this expression >"de omnibus dubitandum". I am trying to figure out what it >means. can you hwlp? Your friend appears to be telling you to "doubt everything," but using bad Latin grammar. "Dubitandum" is the accusative case gerund of dubito, dubitare. Accusative case is used normally for the direct object of a sentence, and the gerund is a adjectival form of the verb and means "doubting." He seems to have constructed the phrase as a prepositional phrase led by "de", which requires an ablative object, which he supplied in "omnibus," "everything." He has then tried to modify that object with the gerund "dubitandum", which is accusative and thus doesn't agree with the noun. The phrase should be: Omnia Dubita (if addressed to one person) Omnia Dubitate (if addressed to more than one person) GLOSSARY ======== de (preposition req. ablative object) "down from, away from, descended from, derived from, on account of, because of" dubito, dubitare (1st conjugation verb) "to doubt, to consider, to ponder, to deliberate" -- dubitandum (gerund, accusative case) "doubting" -- dubita (imperative singular, a command) "(you) doubt!" -- dubitate (imperative plural, a command) "(you all) doubt!" omnis, omne (adjective) "all, every, every kind of, every sort of" -- omnes, omnium (masc. plural) "all, all men, everybody" -- omnia, omnium (neuter plural) "all things, everything, all nature, all the world" -- omnibus (ablative plural, all genders) -- omnia (neuter plural accusative) "everything" ::GUNNORA:: Subject: Occasioni Meo Ferire Insidiar Date: Tue, 2 May 2000 08:32:53 -600 From: gunnora@realtime.net To: stefan@texas.net Lord Cydifor ap Madyn asked about the following phrase in Latin: >>"I shall wait my turn to strike." This can be said in a couple of ways: Occasionem Meum Ferire Exspectabo "I shall wait for my chance to strike" Occasioni Meo Ferire Insidiar "I shall lie in wait for my chance to strike" I looked for a term specifically meaning "snake-bite" and couldn't find it, nor could I find a good usage for "taking turns" -- someone else may have a better suggestion. GLOSSARY ======== exspecto, exspectare (1st conjugation verb) "await, wait for, anticipate" -- exspectabo (1st person singular future tense) "I shall await" ferio, ferire (4th conjugation verb) "to strike, hit, shoot, kill, slaughter" -- ferire (infinitive) "to strike" insidior, insidiari, insidiatus sum (4th conjugation passive verb req. dative) "to lie in wait for, to watch for, to plot against" -- insidiar (1st person singular future tense) "I shall lie in wait for" invicem (adverb) "in turn, taking turns, one after the other, alternatively" meus, mea, meum (1st person possessive pronoun) "my" -- meum (accusative singular masculine), meo (dative singular masculine) occasio, occasionis (feminine noun) "occasion, opportunity, good time, chance" -- occasionem (accusative singular) -- occasioni (dative singular) ::GUNNORA:: From: gunnora@realtime.net To: Carol Duncan Cc: stefan@texas.net Date: Tue, 23 May 2000 13:19:12 -600 Subject: Es et eris maximus in vita mea. >I was searching the net for a suitable short Latin phrase for >a wedding ring inscription ... >I would like something like, "You are cherished" or "You are >treasured", or "I cherish you"... >"You are, and always will be, the most important person in my >life" ... "You are, and always will be, the most important man in my life" Es et eris maximus in vita mea. "You are, and always will be, the most important woman in my life" Es et eris maxima in vita mea. "You will always be cherished" Semper Foveberis "You will be cherished forever" Foveberis in Aeternum "I cherish you" Te Foveo GLOSSARY ======== et (conjunction) "and" foveo, fovere, fovi, fotum (2nd declension verb) "to warm, keep warm, fondle, caress, love, cherish, support, encourage, pamper, treasure" -- foveo (1st person singular) "I cherish" -- foveberis (2nd person passive voice future tense) "you will be cherished" in (preposition requiring ablative object) "in" in aeternum (phrase) "forever, eternally" maximus, maxima, maximum (adjective, superlative of magnus) "most important, most momentous, most significant, of greatest value" meus, mea, meum (adjective) "my" semper (adverb) "always" sum, esse, fui, futurus (irregular verb) "to be" -- es (2nd person singular present tense) "you are" -- eris (2nd person singular future tense) "you will be" tu, tui (2nd person pronoun) "you" -- te (accusative) vita, vitae (1st declension feminine noun) "life" -- vita (ablative singular) ::GUNNORA:: From: gunnora@realtime.net To: "Dean S. Cox" Cc: stefan@texas.net Date: Fri, 26 May 2000 16:33:18 -600 Subject: Furorem hominis patientis cave. To say: "Beware the fury of a patient man" depends a bit on whether you mean "a patient person" or "a patient person of the masculine gender". Furorem hominis patientis cave. "Beware the fury of a patient person." Furorem viri patientis cave. "Beware the fury of a patient man." GLOSSARY =========== caveo, cavere, cavi, cautum (3rd conjugation verb) "to beware of, guard against, keep clear of, look out for" with ab+ ablative "to be on one's guard against" -- cave (imperative singular, command) "(you) beware of" [Note the similarity to the famous phrase, "cave canem" or "beware the dog"] furor, furoris (3rd declension masculine noun) "madness, rage, fury, passion, frenzy" -- furorem (accusative singular) homo, hominis (3rd declension masculine noun) "human being, man" -- hominis (genitive singular) patiens, patientis (adjective) "hardy, tough, hard, stubborn, unyeilding, patient, tolerant" -- patientis (genitive singular) vir, viri (2nd declension masculine noun) "male human being" -- viri (genitive singular) ::GUNNORA:: Date: Sat, 27 May 2000 19:57:55 -0500 To: mikek@williamsco.com From: "C. L. Ward" Subject: Si hoc legere scis, nimium eruditionis habes Cc: stefan@texas.net >Mike Kelly wrote: >> I am a Const. Proj. Mgr. in Florida currently wrapping up construction a new >> middle school (Private Institution). I would like to do some commerative >> golfshirts with the school logo, completion date and a little kicker: "If >> you can read this, you're over educated." Saw this one time, but can not >> remember where. Can you help? >> >> Michael R. Kelly >> Project Manager >> mikek@williamsco.com The phrase you see on the cute T-shirts (often in the Signals catalog and similar high end mail order sources) is: Si hoc legere scis, nimium eruditionis habes. ::GUNNORA:: From: gunnora@realtime.net To: EBKerns@aol.com Cc: stefan@texas.net Date: Tue, 30 May 2000 16:17:59 -600 Subject: Supera et Superato "Get ahead and stay ahead" This is a very modern colloquialism. In Latin you could say this in many ways. The most elegant, I think, is: Supera et Superato "(You, singular) get ahead and stay ahead" Superate et Superatote "(You, plural) get ahead and stay ahead" GLOSSARY ========= supero, superare (1st conjugation verb) "to get ahead, to go over, pass over, rise above, to outdo, surpass, overcome, vanquish, to be superior, to have the advantage" -- supera (present imperative singular) -- superate (present imperative plural) -- superato (future imperative singular) -- superatote (future imperative plural) From: gunnora@realtime.net To: WyteRayven@aol.com Cc: stefan@texas.net Date: Fri, 9 Jun 2000 15:47:00 -600 Subject: Cor Caesaris in pectus feminae illius palpitat You asked for a Latin translation of: "The heart of Caesar beats in the soul of this woman." In English, this is a mixed metaphor -- you mix the physical heart beating within an immaterial soul. In Latin, it's a lot easier -- because the words for "heart", "soul", "feelings" and so forth are true synonyms. This would be: Cor Caesaris in pectus feminae illius palpitat. GLOSSARY ======== Caesar, Caesaris (3rd declension masculine proper noun) "member of the Julian dynasty, Emperor" -- Caesaris (genitive singular) "Caesar's, of Caesar" cor, cordis (3rd declension neuter noun) "heart, mind, feelings, soul" -- cor (nominative singular) femina, feminae (1st declension feminine noun) "woman, female" -- feminae (genitive singular) "woman's, of a woman" ille, illa, illud (demonstrative pronoun) "this" -- illius (feminine genitive singular) in (preposition requiring an ablative object) "within" pectus, pectoris (3rd declension neuter noun) "breast, heart, feeling, soul, conscience, mind, character, person" -- pectus (accusative singular) palpito, palpitare (1st conjugation verb) "to throb, to beat, to pulse" -- (3rd person singular present tense) palpitat "he/she/it beats" ::GUNNORA:: From: gunnora@realtime.net To: Liz Clevenger Cc: stefan@texas.net Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 10:04:05 -600 Subject: Enodatio Ab Scientia Liz Clevenger asked: >Can you tell me what the English translation is for >Enod Tio AB Scientia? To start with, you have a spelling error there in the beginning. I think the phrase actually must be: Enodatio Ab Scientia since there is no "enod" or "tio" in Latin (see the Glossary below for related terms) The translation for "Enodatio Ab Scientia" would be "A solution from knowledge" or "A solution from skill" or "A solution by means of knowledge" etc. The term "enodatio" is an interesting one. It derived from "e nodo", "without knots, with knots taken out". So when you have "worked the knots out" you have a "solution". GLOSSARY ======== a, ab (preposition req. ablative object) "by, since, after, from, away, away from, at, on, in" e, ex (preposition req. ablative object) "out of, from, down from" eno, enare (1st conjugation verb) "to swim out, swim away, escape by swimming" enodate (adverb) "without knots, clearly, plainly" enodatio, enodationis (3rd declension feminine noun) "solution, explanation" enodis, enode (adjective) "without knots, plain, clear" enodo, enodare (1st declension verb) "to explain, clarify" nodus, nodi (2nd declension masculine noun) "knot, difficulty" scientia, scientiae (1st declension feminine noun) "knowledge, skill" ::GUNNORA:: From: gunnora@realtime.net To: "MARC/KAREN GERMAIN" Cc: stefan@texas.net Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2000 10:03:21 -600 Subject: Sibi Cantilenam Insusurrare Dum Meit Gratus Ad Lumbos Est >I was wondering if you would mind translating one for me ?!? >A friend of mine had a framed version of this in his bathroom, >but lost it over the years. >To hum while Peeing is pleasing to the loins >I know that it may be childish, but he talks about it allot >(He can't remember the Latin version) and it would be the >Perfect gift!!!!! Sibi Cantilenam Insusurrare Dum Meit Gratus Ad Lumbos Est To hum while Peeing is pleasing to the loins GLOSSARY ======== ad (preposition req. accusative object) "to" cantilina, cantilenae (1st declension feminine noun) "song, a little song, a tune, an old song" -- cantilenam (accusative singular, direct object) dum (conjunction) "while, during the time in which, as long as, until" gratus, grata, gratum (adjective) "pleasing, pleasant, agreeable, welcome" insusurro, insusurrare (1st conjugation verb req. dative object) "to whisper something to, to hum something to" lumbi, lumborum (2nd declension plural masculine noun) "loins, genitals" -- lumbos (accusative plural) meio, meiere (3rd conjugation verb) "to urinate" -- meit (3rd person singular present tense) "one is urinating, he/she/it is urinating" se, sui (reflexive pronoun) "oneself" -- sibi (dative singular) "to oneself" sibi cantilenam insusurrare (phrase) "to hum a tune to oneself" sum, esse, fui, futurus (irregular verb) "to be" -- est (3rd person singular present tense) "it is" ::GUNNORA:: Edited by Mark S. Harris mottoes-msg