# Help With Latin **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 9, 2008, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-latin/476454 "2008-12-09T21:22:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-latin/476454/1 "2008-12-09T21:22:51Z")
I’m trying to come up with a family motto and coat of arms for a friend who is known for her ironing. I like “Strike while the iron is hot”. When I plugged it into a translator I got “Offendo Dum Ferrum Est Fervens”. Is that a reasonable translation? Does it carry any of the sense of the pun in English? ---
**Author:** ![Gus\_Gusterson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85f322/32.png) [@Gus\_Gusterson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gus_Gusterson)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-latin/476454/2 "2008-12-09T21:58:28Z")
That is a word-for-word translation. I would change it to “Offendo Dum Ferrum Fervens Est” to sound more “Latiny”. “Ferrum” means iron, the metal. It doesn’t mean the thing you use to get wrinkles out of clothes, so the pun is lost entirely. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-latin/476454/3 "2008-12-09T22:50:27Z")
I lost a longer post through negligence. The gist is that judging by forms of the proverb found in Romance languages, I’d suggest a Latin version along the lines of _Battue ferrum dum calidum est_. _Ferrum_ was often used for any iron tool or implement, so it’s fine for a laundry iron. ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-latin/476454/4 "2008-12-09T23:02:07Z")
But does the “iron” referred to in the English phrase actually mean the thing for ironing clothes? If that is the case the phrase doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. No cites, but I would have thought it related to blacksmithing - strike while that hunk of iron that you just hauled out of the forge is hot; if it cools off then beating the bejeezus out of it isn’t going to accomplish much… If that was the case I wouldn’t have a problem with using iron meaning the metal. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-latin/476454/5 "2008-12-09T23:06:58Z")
> [@](#): > > But does the “iron” referred to in the English phrase actually mean the thing for ironing clothes? Not in the normal usage of the phrase, no. But the OP is looking to turn it into a pun by giving it to a person who does a lot of clothes-pressing. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2008, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-latin/476454/6 "2008-12-09T23:11:40Z")
I agree the pun isn’t very punny in English. You don’t strike a laundry iron, and you don’t really strike anything with a laundry iron. But, hey, it’s not my pun. Okay, I found some actual Latin versions online, which seem to be medieval proverbs. Dum calidum fuerit debetur cudere ferrum-While it is (literally, will be) hot, iron ought to be beaten Dum satis est calidum, debemus cudere ferrum-While it’s hot enough, we ought to beat the iron. Ferrum cudendum est, dum candet in igne-Iron needs beating while it’s glowing in the fire Ferrum cum ab igne candet, tundendum-Iron, when it glows from the fire, needs beating. ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-latin/476454/7 "2008-12-10T01:02:28Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > I agree the pun isn’t very punny in English. You don’t strike a laundry iron, and you don’t really strike anything with a laundry iron. But, hey, it’s not my pun. > > Okay, I found some actual Latin versions online, which seem to be medieval proverbs. > > Dum calidum fuerit debetur cudere ferrum-While it is (literally, will be) hot, iron ought to be beaten > > Dum satis est calidum, debemus cudere ferrum-While it’s hot enough, we ought to beat the iron. > > Ferrum cudendum est, dum candet in igne-Iron needs beating while it’s glowing in the fire > > Ferrum cum ab igne candet, tundendum-Iron, when it glows from the fire, needs beating. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-latin/476454/8 "2008-12-10T01:04:30Z")
And I agree, it’s not very punny. It is _iron_ic, however. ---
**Author:** ![SeanArenas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeanArenas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeanArenas)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2008, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-with-latin/476454/9 "2008-12-10T01:19:49Z")
> [@DanBlather](#): > > And I agree, it’s not very punny. It is _iron_ic, however. That belongs in Alanis Morissette’s song.