# Help with Latin translation of a simple phrase **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 4, 2021, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-latin-translation-of-a-simple-phrase/941374 "2021-05-04T13:59:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2021, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-latin-translation-of-a-simple-phrase/941374/21 "2021-05-06T09:18:28Z")
If we go by the man’s own text, what was Caesar most commonly doing? Interficere? Caedere? (Per)necare, etc… ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2021, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-latin-translation-of-a-simple-phrase/941374/22 "2021-05-06T11:43:56Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > If we go by the man’s own text, what was Caesar most commonly doing? I suppose that would be referring to himself in the third person. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2021, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-latin-translation-of-a-simple-phrase/941374/23 "2021-05-06T13:45:17Z")
> [@Scarlax](#): > > I vaguely remember Latin having like 50 words for kill the same as Eskimos and ice. > > @RickJay do you have something specific in mind as a means of destruction? Maybe there is a synonym more apt for what you are imagining. No, not really. Just imagine, like, Dr. Evil or Ming the Merciless shrieking “I will destroy you!” ---
**Author:** ![Scarlax](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlax/32/2927_2.png) [@Scarlax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlax)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2021, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-latin-translation-of-a-simple-phrase/941374/24 "2021-05-06T14:18:08Z")
I was _terrible_ at Latin for 3 years in the 90s so this is not a hill I am going to die on (although that would be very Roman). A quick google search just kicked out a list of 33 verbs that can mean to kill in various ways, so I feel like there is room for distinction between destroy/stab/choke/pulverize/obliterate/eradicate/disintegrate/exsanguinate … et cetera. Point being- precision can get lost in translation since “I will destroy you” and “I will kick your ass” and “I will defeat you in humiliating fashion in our next match” all can mean the same exact thing or mean very very different things. And transliteration doesn’t easily take into account wordplay and idioms that no doubt occurred but didn’t necessarily get recorded into writing. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2021, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-latin-translation-of-a-simple-phrase/941374/25 "2021-05-06T15:04:06Z")
> [@Scarlax](#): > > A quick google search just kicked out a list of 33 verbs that can mean to kill in various way I assume [this](https://foundinantiquity.com/2013/07/20/far-too-many-latin-words-for-kill/) is the list. How many English words do we find in a similar list? > **[1 276 Verb Synonyms for Kill](https://www.powerthesaurus.org/kill/synonyms/verb)** > > Another way to say Kill? Synonyms for Kill (verbs). I’d say many of those are a bit of a stretch, but then so were some of the Latin words. Here’s [another list](https://www.thesaurus.com/browse/kill) of the top 45 English words, some of which overlap with [this list](https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english-thesaurus/kill). ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2021, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-latin-translation-of-a-simple-phrase/941374/26 "2021-05-06T15:30:53Z")
> [@Scarlax](#): > > Point being- precision can get lost in translation since “I will destroy you” and “I will kick your ass” and “I will defeat you in humiliating fashion in our next match” all can mean the same exact thing or mean very very different things. And transliteration doesn’t easily take into account wordplay and idioms that no doubt occurred but didn’t necessarily get recorded into writing. Here we are talking about literal destruction, the annihilation of the person being spoken to, just not in a specific physical manner. They could be obliterated with a nuclear weapon, a cannon, a death ray, a flamethrower or the subject’s bare hands. This has been a great, educational thread! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-latin-translation-of-a-simple-phrase/941374.md?page=1)