Need help translating quote into Latin
October 5, 2014 4:08 PM Subscribe
I would like the most accurate possible translation of "Damn the torpedoes!" into Latin.
Hi folks,
Could someone please help me translate the phrase "Damn the torpedoes" into Latin? I don't trust online translation bots for something like this--especially when it comes to Latin!
Any help is much appreciated. Thanks!
Hi folks,
Could someone please help me translate the phrase "Damn the torpedoes" into Latin? I don't trust online translation bots for something like this--especially when it comes to Latin!
Any help is much appreciated. Thanks!
Response by poster: Heh, fair enough. It's a famous, if slightly inaccurate, naval quote.
Context from wikipedia:
"On August 5, 1864, Farragut won a great victory in the Battle of Mobile Bay. Mobile, Alabama, was then the Confederacy's last major open port on the Gulf of Mexico. The bay was heavily mined (tethered naval mines were then known as "torpedoes").[25] Farragut ordered his fleet to charge the bay. When the monitor USS Tecumseh struck a mine and sank, the others began to pull back.
Admiral David Farragut and General Gordon Granger
Farragut could see the ships pulling back from his high perch, where he was lashed to the rigging of his flagship, USS Hartford. "What's the trouble?", he shouted through a trumpet to USS Brooklyn. "Torpedoes", was the shouted reply. "Damn the torpedoes.", said Farragut, "Four bells, Captain Drayton, go ahead. Jouett, full speed."[26][27] The bulk of the fleet succeeded in entering the bay. Farragut triumphed over the opposition of heavy batteries in Fort Morgan and Fort Gaines to defeat the squadron of Admiral Franklin Buchanan."
posted by tetralix at 4:23 PM on October 5, 2014 [1 favorite]
Context from wikipedia:
"On August 5, 1864, Farragut won a great victory in the Battle of Mobile Bay. Mobile, Alabama, was then the Confederacy's last major open port on the Gulf of Mexico. The bay was heavily mined (tethered naval mines were then known as "torpedoes").[25] Farragut ordered his fleet to charge the bay. When the monitor USS Tecumseh struck a mine and sank, the others began to pull back.
Admiral David Farragut and General Gordon Granger
Farragut could see the ships pulling back from his high perch, where he was lashed to the rigging of his flagship, USS Hartford. "What's the trouble?", he shouted through a trumpet to USS Brooklyn. "Torpedoes", was the shouted reply. "Damn the torpedoes.", said Farragut, "Four bells, Captain Drayton, go ahead. Jouett, full speed."[26][27] The bulk of the fleet succeeded in entering the bay. Farragut triumphed over the opposition of heavy batteries in Fort Morgan and Fort Gaines to defeat the squadron of Admiral Franklin Buchanan."
posted by tetralix at 4:23 PM on October 5, 2014 [1 favorite]
Luckily 'torpedoes' is already in the accusative plural, 3rd declension. (What, what! All Classics majors represent!)
posted by Partario at 4:26 PM on October 5, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by Partario at 4:26 PM on October 5, 2014 [3 favorites]
If you wanted a classical quote with a somewhat similar feel, the first one that came to mind is alea iacta est. Not a perfect correspondence, but possibly close?
posted by immlass at 4:46 PM on October 5, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by immlass at 4:46 PM on October 5, 2014 [3 favorites]
there is also murum aries attigit "the ram has touched the wall", a battlefield doctrine of julius caesar which meant that now that it's underway, we're gonna finish it.
posted by bruce at 6:52 PM on October 5, 2014 [4 favorites]
posted by bruce at 6:52 PM on October 5, 2014 [4 favorites]
Response by poster: Thanks guys--those are good quotes, though I am still looking for a representation of the original phrase in Latin :)
posted by tetralix at 4:00 AM on October 6, 2014
posted by tetralix at 4:00 AM on October 6, 2014
Torpedoes damnate!
Torpedoes in the plural accusative, damnate = damn, in the 2nd person plural imperative.
posted by Maecenas at 6:04 AM on October 6, 2014
Torpedoes in the plural accusative, damnate = damn, in the 2nd person plural imperative.
posted by Maecenas at 6:04 AM on October 6, 2014
Best answer: Wait, nope, torpedoes is not actually a valid latin form, even though google translate thinks it is.
The proper phrasing is "Torpedines damnate!"
A bit of etymology—torpedo in latin means sluggishness (cf. torpor, but was transferred to an electric ray because being shocked by the ray made you feel sluggish. The fish's name was then transferred to the aquatic explosive referred to in the quote.
posted by Maecenas at 6:08 AM on October 6, 2014
The proper phrasing is "Torpedines damnate!"
A bit of etymology—torpedo in latin means sluggishness (cf. torpor, but was transferred to an electric ray because being shocked by the ray made you feel sluggish. The fish's name was then transferred to the aquatic explosive referred to in the quote.
posted by Maecenas at 6:08 AM on October 6, 2014
Response by poster: Wow, super interesting! Thanks so much.
posted by tetralix at 9:51 AM on October 6, 2014
posted by tetralix at 9:51 AM on October 6, 2014
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by hoist with his own pet aardvark at 4:11 PM on October 5, 2014 [3 favorites]