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Re: Palooka

Posted: Wed Jul 03, 2013 4:49 pm
by David McWethy
I would like to suggest the voluntary (for I believe in the right to speak as well as the right to not speak) protocol that those who toss out Latin phrases should include thereafter the English translation.

What’s motivated this micro-diatribe is that I would really like to know what gailr’s
de gustibus non est disputandum, suum cuique
means; her comments always seem thoughtful and erudite and I'm sure it's a zinger.

To atone for my own past Latin transgressions, I’ll herewith give as examples the two phrases I remember using on this site:
Post hoc ergo prompter hoc --> When two things occur in succession, the first caused the second; and
Fames optmum condimentum --> Hunger is the best spice
(That one I frequently used when my children were small and complained about what I served for supper).

In return, I’d be grateful if anyone could give the Latin version of “You can tell what a thing is by what it does”. It’s been too long ago when I learned the Latin phrase, which sometime thereafter failed to make the leap from one memory synapse to another; the fact that I have no trouble remembering that I used to know it provides not one whit of solace.

Re: Palooka

Posted: Wed Jul 03, 2013 6:06 pm
by Slava
What’s motivated this micro-diatribe is that I would really like to know what gailr’s
de gustibus non est disputandum, suum cuique
means; her comments always seem thoughtful and erudite and I'm sure it's a zinger.
The first part is perhaps one of the most well-known quotes used in English, it means There is no disputing taste. The second one, though less well-known, means To each his own.

My only criticism or gailr's post would be to suggest an "or" instead of a comma. That makes it obvious they are two different items.

Re: Palooka

Posted: Wed Jul 03, 2013 7:17 pm
by Philip Hudson
One can get translations from http://translate.google.com/ but they need to be handled with care. For example, the comma in "de gustibus non est disputandum, suum cuiquecare" throws Google for a loop. It gets the first phrase about right and then goes out in left field for the second one. In any case, the automatic translator may not measure up to what a human translator would produce. For "De gustibus non est disputandum." one gets "The taste is not the dispute." That's a pretty literal, wooden translation compared to Slava's smooth "There is no disputing taste."

It reminds me of a translation from Russian to English that referred to “fifty day Christians”. This was from a human translator who didn’t know when to translate and when to transliterate. He/she should have said “Pentecostal Christians”.

Re: Palooka

Posted: Wed Jul 03, 2013 8:49 pm
by gailr
I would like to suggest the voluntary (for I believe in the right to speak as well as the right to not speak) protocol that those who toss out Latin phrases should include thereafter the English translation.
mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa* :D


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
* through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault
If you were raised RC -- and are of a certain age -- this is part of your Permanent Memory.

Including translations is a good suggestion, David.

Re: Palooka

Posted: Thu Jul 04, 2013 11:33 am
by LukeJavan8

Re: Palooka

Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2015 2:33 am
by misterdoe
sehnsucht... Things never were quite what they used to be.
"Can it be that it was all so simple then? Or has time re-written every line?" :D