Latin motto clinic

[Naivetry]

My motto is "De Oppresso Liber", to liberate the oppressed. This motto is also used by the United States Green Berets.

FYI, the Latin reads, literally, "A free man (liber) from (de) a man having been oppressed (oppresso)" - or in better English, "A free man from one who was oppressed."

[Radicom]

Hi,

My national motto is “Exsuperantia ex Scientiae!”... I've had it for over four years on my nation, the result of an online translator I found lying around. =)

I wanted something that says something to the effect of "excellence from knowledge"/"superiority from progress" (these terms are a bit different, so there's some freedom for translation here). Is my current motto accurate, or should it be rephrased, maybe?

Thanks for the help!

[Naivetry]

Hi,

My national motto is “Exsuperantia ex Scientiae!”... I've had it for over four years on my nation, the result of an online translator I found lying around. =)

I wanted something that says something to the effect of "excellence from knowledge"/"superiority from progress" (these terms are a bit different, so there's some freedom for translation here). Is my current motto accurate, or should it be rephrased, maybe?

Thanks for the help!

Hey there! Exsuperantia isn't a particularly common Latin word... you could try either virtus (which has connotations of moral excellence), excellentia (more neutral), or perhaps praestantia, which means something like "pre-eminence" or "outstanding excellence," but without the moral overtones. And I'd keep scientia (just with a change of case) for "knowledge" - the Romans weren't as excited about the idea of progress and innovation as we are, so they don't have a word that has similarly positive connotations for new things.

Excellentia ex Scientia

[Hetairos]

When you want to say 'from' in Latin, how do you use 'e' or 'ex'? Or can you use either in any circumstances?

[Radicom]

"Excellentia ex scientia"... sounds good!

Just to clarify the difference between excellentia & praestantia; excellentia means excellence more in the general sense, whereas praestantia is more of a comparative (like, "more excellent than all others")... ?

I noticed you dropped the "e" on scientia; does this change the meaning of the word, or is it just a typo on my part?

[North Avayu]

Non quiescemus priusquam summum accesserimus.

Sorry for the question, but couldn't you use the Hortativ (don't know if it's the same name in English) to express the "shall" a bit better? I'm just a student myself and am currently preparing for a test, so I thought I should ask this.

"Shall" in this instance is just the future tense. The hortative/hortatory subjunctive would be translated, "Let us not rest" and would use a ne for the negative.

Ok, thanks. Seems like my problems are more in English than in Latin.

About e/ex: Ex is always used if a word beginning with a vocal or h is following. Besides this, there are no real rules.

Edit: @ Radicom: Scientia is right. It's the Ablative, which has to follow after "ex" (and most other prepositions).

[Third Spanish States]

Just to inform, it was supposed to be an imperative statement like:

"Strive for no master other than yourself"

Is "Capto haud dominum praeterquam te" the proper way to phrase that?

[Ardchoille]

How about "Life is short; drink faster!"?

It's the motto of one of my puppets. I pinched "vita brevis" from the MGM motto, but the on-line translators I muddled with didn't seem able to settle on a single verb for "drink", and they weren't too great about "faster", either.

[Naivetry]

Just to clarify the difference between excellentia & praestantia; excellentia means excellence more in the general sense, whereas praestantia is more of a comparative (like, "more excellent than all others")... ?

That's a good way to think of it. Praestantia comes from the Latin words for "stand" + "in front" - literally, it's something that's outstanding. Excellentia is most closely related to a verb that means "to raise up," or to the adjective for "elevated."

I noticed you dropped the "e" on scientia; does this change the meaning of the word, or is it just a typo on my part?

Yep, it does change the meaning of the word. As North Avayu said, that puts it into the ablative case. That's the tricky thing about Latin - it has a case system, so the endings of the words change according to their function in the sentence. If you're just using the dictionary entry and trying to form a sentence, you'll get it wrong almost every time.

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Just to inform, it was supposed to be an imperative statement like:

"Strive for no master other than yourself"

Is "Capto haud dominum praeterquam te" the proper way to phrase that?

Aha! No, it is not. But here's another question - do you mean "Strive to have no master..." or "Strive on behalf of no master..."? That will make a difference.

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How about "Life is short; drink faster!"?

It's the motto of one of my puppets. I pinched "vita brevis" from the MGM motto, but the on-line translators I muddled with didn't seem able to settle on a single verb for "drink", and they weren't too great about "faster", either.

Good one. I'll infer that you're drinking in celebratory fashion, which means poto is the more appropriate verb...

Vita brevis est; celerius pota!
(To address people in the plural: Vita brevis est; celerius potate! - but that looks terribly close to potato.)

[Skeenation]

To be remembered, is to be great.

[Third Spanish States]

It was meant as "Strive to have no master..."

[Vaarshire]

The motto of my country is supposed to be "From the Prince, Light" (or Princess in the case of a female monarch). However, the internet translators I used- this was a while ago, though, and I don't recall looking for a "second opinion"- seemed to use the same word for prince and king. I guess it makes sense, because Prince usually means "son of the King" but in this context the Prince is the ruler.

Anyway, the motto I currently use is "Ex Rege, Lux". I'm fairly positive that this is wrong on several levels. If you could provide me with proper translations for "From the Prince, Light" and "From the Princess, Light", that would be just great.

[Ardchoille]

Good one. I'll infer that you're drinking in celebratory fashion, which means poto is the more appropriate verb...

Vita brevis est; celerius pota!
(To address people in the plural: Vita brevis est; celerius potate! - but that looks terribly close to potato.)

Given the nature of the nation in question, a word that looks close to potato will instantly suggest vodka, so I think the plural is decidedly appropriate. Thank you.

BTW, as a Latin teacher, you should beware. My fading memory of unending Latin homework that catalogued the doings of the Queen and the maidens in the temple on the island, all in the present tense, with or without a table (o table!; to, for a table; by, with or from a table ... ) anyway, all that inspired another of my puppets. So some day a sentence you gave for homework may turn up in front of you as a fully fledged nation.

[Hetairos]

The motto of my country is supposed to be "From the Prince, Light" (or Princess in the case of a female monarch). However, the internet translators I used- this was a while ago, though, and I don't recall looking for a "second opinion"- seemed to use the same word for prince and king. I guess it makes sense, because Prince usually means "son of the King" but in this context the Prince is the ruler.

Anyway, the motto I currently use is "Ex Rege, Lux". I'm fairly positive that this is wrong on several levels. If you could provide me with proper translations for "From the Prince, Light" and "From the Princess, Light", that would be just great.

Rex means king as opposed to prince;I think you want princeps. It should be ablative, so principe.

I think it should be 'Ex principe, Lucis'.
Reginae should probably be used for princess.

[Radicom]

Thanks for all your help with this, Naivetry.

[Heaven Hieghts]

Vos es Bardus

Ego Contemno Vos

Ego Diligo Vos

And how would you say "Im going to put a wooden stake in your chest"? Or "I shall stab you with my trusty lance"?

[Glen-Rhodes]

I've always wondered if my motto was correct Latin. "Sceptrum publicus per populus." It's supposed to translate to "Rule of the people by the people."

[North Avayu]

To be remembered, is to be great.

I would go with "magnificia est, memorari esse" but maybe Naivetry has a nicer one.

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"From the Prince, Light"

As I don't fully understand the meaning of this, I would do as Hetairos said. Princess could also be translated with "princeps femina".

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Vos es Bardus

Ego Contemno Vos

Ego Diligo Vos

And how would you say "Im going to put a wooden stake in your chest"? Or "I shall stab you with my trusty lance"?

If the first one shall be "You (plural) are stupid", than it would be "Vos estis bardus". The other ones are correct, but I have no ida about the wooden stake or rusty lance.

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I've always wondered if my motto was correct Latin. "Sceptrum publicus per populus." It's supposed to translate to "Rule of the people by the people."

If translated precisly, this would mean "Public scepter by the people". But the metaphor should be possible. It needs to be "publicum", to fit to "sceptrum" and "populum"
Maybe something like "Imperium/Regnum populi per populum" would fulfill your expecatations better.

[Heaven Hieghts]

What about "I shall slay you with a large sword!" or "I shall shine my flash light in your face!"

[Spartan Philidelphia]

"Corrupt, Madness, and Spartan! (:D)

[Altrulia]

I put this through an online translator and after rerunning it through in Latin it came out horribly butchered.

It is better to light a candle, rather than curse the darkness.

[Sirocco]

"Don't ask me, I only govern here".

[Incarna]

“Victor tolero patientia”

It's meant to be "The victor endures suffering," but going by the odds of the mottos posted in this thread, I'm sure there's something wrong with it.

[Hetairos]

“Victor tolero patientia”

It's meant to be "The victor endures suffering," but going by the odds of the mottos posted in this thread, I'm sure there's something wrong with it.

patientia means patience. tolero means I endure.

victor toleret perpessionem
or
victor perpessionem toleret

I think it should be an e in toleret.

[Starblaydia]

I have a feeling my current 'latin' motto is off, slightly, but I'm way to used to it to change it now. If you could tell me quite how wrong it actually might be, I'd be obliged.

"Fides, Gloria, Sanguis", hopefully translates as "Honour, Glory, Blood". I've seen 'Fides' as anything from Fi to Fideles, too, so I iagine there are some differences?