I have no doubt there are a few latin scholars on board.
I’m not. The guy who was supposed to teach us Latin in high school left to become the quieter half of Penn and Teller. But that’s another story.
I’d like to know how to say “Pay Attention.”
For attention i have animas attendus, which seems to come the closest the spirit I’m looking for. But it’s not the imperative. Any thoughts, including conotation, or any other comments on translation would be appreciated.
Thanks.
The correct idiom for “pay attention” is opus dare.
In the second person singular, you would say opera da.
MR
“Aypay Attentionway”
Orrysay
Are you sure about that, Maeglin? My dictionary gives operam dare as meaning “to work hard” or “to pay attention”. Opera is a first-declension noun meaning “trouble, exertion” as well as nom./acc. pl. of opus. It looks like the singular imperative would be operam da and the plural would be operas date [or operam date perhaps?].
There are other ways of expressing the same thought.
Attende animum [to one person] or Attendite animos [to two or more people]
The single word Animadverte [singular] or Animadvertite also means about the same thing.
Yup, glad you looked it up. I remember learning operam dare at the same time as opus est, so I imagine I conflated the two. My L&S says that opera indeed is correct.
MR
I took Latin for two years in high school, and the only thing I remember is semper ubi sub ubi. And that’s not even proper grammer, I just thought it was so godammed funny, that it stuck.
Carpe cerevisi!
LOL@SwimmingRiddles
As for the question, I’d go with Animadverte (singular) and Animadvertite (plural)
-S
Thanks, everybody!
So, I’ve got “operam dare” and “attendite animos” or “animadvertite”.
Can anybody tell me anything about the connotative difference? I’m looking for something like “An artist must pay attention to the world around him.”
Give careful attention to, take a rapt interest in, become involved in.
Any thoughts?
Thanks again.