Comments on: I only know Pig Latin, sorry.

Question: I only know Pig Latin, sorry.

damnjezebel — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 10:21:15 -0800

The weekly english-to-latin translation. Help me translate a couple of things, por favor.

A friend of mine knows that I hang out on AskMeFi, so this is from her:

- Can you translate "Rough Riders" into latin?

- Is the latin translation of War is Sweet "Dulce Bellum"?

(poster's note: i think these are for a play she's working on, or maybe she's just crazy. can you help please?)

By: RavinDave

RavinDave — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 10:32:28 -0800

I don't think you can just drop the verb in Latin. Probably something along the lines of: Bellum dulce est.

By: cocoagirl

cocoagirl — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 10:37:33 -0800

Dulce bellum translates more to 'sweetness war'. War is sweet would be 'bellum est dulcis'.

Rough Rider would be something like 'durus viator' (hard traveler), or 'durus equus veho' if you want the sense of a horse rider. 'Durus' means hard in the sense of not soft, while 'arduus' means hard in the sense of difficult (arduous). I'm not positive about the 'veho' part. Maybe 'durus equitatus' (hard cavalry) would be better.

By: cocoagirl

cocoagirl — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 10:42:35 -0800

Yes, RavinDave has the more accepted placement of the verb ('bellum dulcis est'). Though both are correct, I think having the verb at the end signals "Latin!" to the listener or reader.

By: damnjezebel

damnjezebel — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 10:44:45 -0800

Thanks, ya'll. Per her:

"I want to use the name Rough Riders for a street gang in a play I'm writing. But I would like the name in Latin so it has a different sort of flair. I know that sounds retarded, but work with me. =) "

By: synaesthetichaze

synaesthetichaze — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 12:03:46 -0800

Durus is great for "rough", since the connotations are almost exactly the same: enduring, but uncouth. I don't know that viator is really appropriate, since this is supposedly a street gang. Viator kind of implies a destination; I think you probably want Equites, which are horsemen... cocoagirl uses Equitati, which are cavalry, but that seems a bit too organized for me.

Anyway, the gang as a whole would be referred to as Duri Equites or in cocoagirl's, Duri Equitati. In the singular (i.e., an individual Rough Rider), Durus Eques or Durus Equitatus. Going on pure euphony, Duri Equitati is better.

Finally, you can easily drop the verb and still be understood in Latin, I wouldn't worry so much about that.

By: IndigoJones

IndigoJones — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 17:22:33 -0800

Equites were a little more than just horsemen. Go here and here for details.

By: synaesthetichaze

synaesthetichaze — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 19:29:54 -0800

Thanks for the links, IndigoJones; the phrase "equestrian elite" had completely slipped my mind. It's amazing how much I've forgotten about Roman history in only 5 years...

By: not me

not me — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 21:17:38 -0800

I would say "bellum dulce" or "bellum dulce est". I think with the adjective first the meaning is more like "sweet war" but with the noun first it's more like "war is sweet". The adjective ending needs to be -e because "bellum" is a neuter noun, and with no verb the "est" is implied.