Thread: Latin translation? Board: Oblivion / Ship of Fools.


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Posted by mark_in_manchester (# 15978) on :
 
Hi folks

Someone recently commented, regarding a hobby I pursue, that I specialise in 'how to make a bad thing, worse'.

I'm so pleased with this as a pint-sized personal statement, that I'd like to add it as a sig to all sorts of things, preferably in Latin. My own O-level (grade C) was, alas, too long ago to be much use to me...and I suspected perhaps a shipmate might be able to help me out?
 

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Posted by Hart (# 4991) on :
 
Facere malum peius.
 

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Posted by mark_in_manchester (# 15978) on :
 
Thanks Hart. In that form (to make the bad, worse - ?) it sounds rather heavy, as if it belongs in a gothic script on a black T-shirt with skulls on it. Not sure I could carry that off, these days - I no longer have the hair for it. I think I was going for 'to make that which was badly designed and poorly manufactured, perform below expectations'. Which is sunnier, but perhaps less snappy...I'd better think again...
 

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Posted by pererin (# 16956) on :
 
I'd venture something like "dolorem aegrescens". But I never liked Latin as much as Greek, even when it wasn't as rusty as it is now.
 

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Posted by agingjb (# 16555) on :
 
"rem exaspero"?
 

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Posted by Golden Key (# 1468) on :
 
If you do a search on "Latin insults" (and there are pages and pages of them!), you might find something that says what you need.


And maybe you could put it on jewelry or a t-shirt?
 

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Posted by LeRoc (# 3216) on :
 
I really like this page with Latin jokes. Especially the second one is hilarious
 

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Posted by pererin (# 16956) on :
 
Nah, even jokes are better in Greek, and have been since at least the 4th Century:

Ἐν Κύμῃ ἐπισήμου τινὸς κηδευομένου προσελθών τις ἠρώτα τοὺς ὀψικεύοντας· Τίς ὁ τεθνηκώς; εἶς δὲ Κυμαῖος στραφεὶς ὑπεδείκνυε λέγων· Ἐκεῖνος ὁ ἐπὶ τῆς κλίνης ἀνακείμενος.

When a dignitary was being buried in Cumae, someone came up and asked the mourners: “Who is the dead man?” One of Cumaeans turned around and pointed and said: “That guy lying on the bier.”

(Philogelos 154)
 

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Posted by mark_in_manchester (# 15978) on :
 
I'm really glad you gave us the translation, Pererin...it's a good one. LecRoc - even 25 years ago, it would have taken me 3 weeks homework to translate joke 2. Care to oblige, or am I being stupid in not finding it on the page?
 

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Posted by ken (# 2460) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by mark_in_manchester:
'how to make a bad thing, worse'.

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You need to call Rastamouse! He make a bad ting good!
 

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Posted by mark_in_manchester (# 15978) on :
 
He's a big hit with the kids at our kids' primary school. And he talks just like their grandfathers (though I'm not sure what island Rastamouse hails from, and that can be a Big Issue... )
 

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Posted by Sandemaniac (# 12829) on :
 
At risk of thread necromancy, can anyone suggest a real Latin equivalent of the old dog latin favourite, nil illegitimi carborondum?*

AG

*"Don't let the bastards grind you down"
 

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Posted by Fr Weber (# 13472) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by Sandemaniac:
At risk of thread necromancy, can anyone suggest a real Latin equivalent of the old dog latin favourite, nil illegitimi carborondum?*

AG

*"Don't let the bastards grind you down"

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quote:

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Originally posted by orfeo:
Ooh! Um...

Having stumbled by sheer chance onto this thread, might I hijack it and ask for a translation into Latin of a phrase? I tried to use the internet to do it a couple of years ago, but was never quite convinced it was working. "The fear in the boy, the fire in the man".

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quote:

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Originally posted by Golden Key:
If you do a search on "Latin insults" (and there are pages and pages of them!), you might find something that says what you need.


And maybe you could put it on jewelry or a t-shirt?

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Alternatively purchase Henry Beard's delightful book. I used him in my sig for a while but Ultracrepidarian picked my source very quickly
 

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Posted by PerkyEars (# 9577) on :
 
Pah. I thought this would be a thread about where to get Latin translations of old documents.

I've got some old family documents in Latin and I've not the first idea of how or where to get them translated!
 

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Posted by Ultracrepidarian (# 9679) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by Zappa:

quote:

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Originally posted by Golden Key:
If you do a search on "Latin insults" (and there are pages and pages of them!), you might find something that says what you need.


And maybe you could put it on jewelry or a t-shirt?

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Alternatively purchase Henry Beard's delightful book. I used him in my sig for a while but Ultracrepidarian picked my source very quickly

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And, while you're at it, a copy of the poems of Catullus with good-quality translations.

I had the recent experience of trying to think of an example to demonstrate a hendecasyllablic poetry, and all I could think of was the opening of Catullus 16:

'Pedicabo ego vos et irrumabo
Aureli pathice et caedice Furi'

which translates roughly as

'I will buttfuck and facefuck you,
Aurelius you cocksucker and Furius you anal-whore.'



[ 13. April 2012, 16:26: Message edited by: Ultracrepidarian ]
 

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Posted by Zappa (# 8433) on :
 
Yes, he does have a sweet turn of phrase ...
 

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Posted by piglet (# 11803) on :
 
Well, the Romans weren't known for their restraint when it came to that sort of thing, were they?

When a friend of ours in Belfast graduated with a degree in Latin, French and Byzantine Studies, we gave her a book called Latin for All Occasions, which had translations of useful phrases like I have a fax-machine in my Audi. Another friend gave her Winnie the Pooh in Latin (you never know when such a thing's going to come in handy).

This site might be of help too.
 

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Posted by MSHB (# 9228) on :
 
With apologies to the Latin of Revelation 21:5 ...

Ecce, pejora facio omnia

"Behold, I make all things worse."

(The original is "Ecce, nova facio omnia")
 

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Posted by Athrawes (# 9594) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by Ultracrepidarian:

quote:

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Originally posted by Zappa:

quote:

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Originally posted by Golden Key:
If you do a search on "Latin insults" (and there are pages and pages of them!), you might find something that says what you need.


And maybe you could put it on jewelry or a t-shirt?

---

Alternatively purchase Henry Beard's delightful book. I used him in my sig for a while but Ultracrepidarian picked my source very quickly

---

And, while you're at it, a copy of the poems of Catullus with good-quality translations.

I had the recent experience of trying to think of an example to demonstrate a hendecasyllablic poetry, and all I could think of was the opening of Catullus 16:

'Pedicabo ego vos et irrumabo
Aureli pathice et caedice Furi'

which translates roughly as

'I will buttfuck and facefuck you,
Aurelius you cocksucker and Furius you anal-whore.'

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You know, that is the only Catullus I have ever read? I've seen it about 6 times - it seems that is the only thing he wrote that is ever quoted... Does the rest get better? Enquiring minds and all that...
 

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Posted by Metapelagius (# 9453) on :
 
How about Aue atque uale - Catullus ci.10?
 

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Posted by Padre Joshua (# 13100) on :
 
Can some helpful soul tell me what this means:

Quod semper, quod ubique, quod ab omnibus ceditum est.

Thank you.
 

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Posted by Freelance Monotheist (# 8990) on :
 
I thought "Don't let the basterds grind you down" was "Nolite te bastardes carborundorum", which is how it is written in The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, but I could be wrong!
 

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Posted by Balaam (# 4543) on :
 

quote:

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Originally posted by Padre Joshua:
Can some helpful soul tell me what this means:

Quod semper, quod ubique, quod ab omnibus creditum est.

Thank you.

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quote:

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Ecce, pejora facio omnia

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quote:

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Originally posted by AristonAstuanax:
Oh, and while I'd trust this lot with such a thing more than most, don't go soliciting English-Latin translations from random people off the Internet for something you're going to have tattooed on yourself.

Yes, there was someone on facebook who did that. I'm hoping he didn't actually take my translation to the tattoo parlor—while I'm pretty sure of it, if I screwed up . . .

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