It'sa ardha ota ivgay a itshay esthay aysday.

September 16, 2008 7:11 PM

How would one write "it's hard to give a shit these days" in Latin?

"Romeo Had Juliet", by Lou Reed contains the line:

I'll take Manhattan in a garbage bag
with Latin written on it that says
"it's hard to give a shit these days"

What would that look/sound like? I guess literal would work, but the gist is important too.

posted by dirtdirt to Grab Bag (6 answers total)

Best answer: difficilis est munero stercus nunc would be close, but I suspect most of my case endings are off other than est, since it's been a good 15 years since latin class.
posted by Kellydamnit at 8:38 PM on September 16, 2008

Best answer: pro petra merd con diem (hillbilly latin)
posted by hortense at 8:52 PM on September 16, 2008

Best answer: difficilis est, stercum dare.
posted by LMGM at 4:33 AM on September 17, 2008

or, for a less literal translation: difficilis est, cura facere.
(I'm putting "cura" in the ablative as an adverb, but maybe putting it in the accusative as a direct object is better).

I'm sure there's a more idiomatic phrase for "to care for" that I've forgotten. it's been a good 10 years, yo.
posted by LMGM at 4:37 AM on September 17, 2008

Best answer: "non assis facis" from Catullus can be translated as "doesn't give a shit/damn"* so we could get something like

autem assis facere difficilis, dropping the est because it's understood.

When I get off work, I will see if there is a better word than autem, but it springs to mind because it's sort of a now/however. implying that a shit was given in the past.

*see this and also this from The Charles Bukowski Memorial Center for Latin Studies. And as long as we're talking about dirty Latin here are a bunch of poems about boners.
posted by beefetish at 10:41 AM on September 17, 2008 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thanks! I think I'll use Beefetish's answer for the thing I'm working on, but all y'all get a best just for plausible answering.
posted by dirtdirt at 11:36 AM on September 20, 2008