# Latin Translation Help **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 19, 2017, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-translation-help/777547 "2017-01-19T16:59:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-translation-help/777547/21 "2017-01-20T23:35:41Z")
“Always ready” is a thing. It’s the motto of the NYFD. And the US Coast Guard. And of Leo Bloom, at the zenith of his (alternative) career, when he is resident magistrate or justice of the peace with a family crest and coat of arms and appropriate classical motto (_Semper paratus_), duly recorded in the court directory (Bloom, Leopold P., M. P., P. C., K. P., L. L. D. (_honoris causa_), Bloomville, Dundrum) and mentioned in court and fashionable intelligence (Mr and Mrs Leopold Bloom have left Kingstown for England). ETA: So much for the naval line of inquiry, at least as far as the US is concerned. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2017, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-translation-help/777547/22 "2017-01-27T01:56:39Z")
I think the translation serves its purpose. As far words about readiness, I like the punchiness of _praestō_. As for the military-style call-and-response if I were translating “aye-aye” or “hua” I’d render it _unde unde_. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2017, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-translation-help/777547/23 "2017-01-27T21:59:23Z")
_Changeō_. ---
**Author:** ![Bones\_Daley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@Bones\_Daley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bones_Daley)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2017, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-translation-help/777547/24 "2017-01-27T22:47:04Z")
I cannot believe the dithering around on this topic. "Ready, aye ready " translates into Latin as “semper paratus” … “aye” means “always” in this context. It does **not** mean “yes” … the idea is actually laughable to anybody familiar with Scots language. As an aside, the motto of the Clan Johnston is “nunquam non paratus” , which translates to "never unprepared ". Why the double negative, I have no idea …“semper paratus” is far more cogent IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Bones\_Daley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@Bones\_Daley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bones_Daley)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2017, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-translation-help/777547/25 "2017-01-28T00:01:57Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > You’re right. _Aye_ meaning ‘yeah’ is pronounced /aI/. It comes from a Middle English contraction of the phrase “ah, yea.” > > _Aye_ meaning ‘forever’ is pronounced /eI/. Its origin goes back to Proto-Germanic \*_aiwaz_, from Proto-Indo-European \*_eyu_- 'long time, lifetime, from \*_ey_- ‘vital force, life, age’. Few people except those who read really old books would be aware that they’re two different words. Because the second meaning hasn’t been used since “aye” 😉 and it isn’t found any later than Early Modern English, unless an author is affectedly imitating that style like Pynchon did in _Mason & Dixon_ or Clarke in _Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell_ and her other writings. In the Scots language, “aye” , meaning “forever” is pronounced exactly the same as “aye” meaning “yeah”. The English don’t ever use the word “aye” to mean either yes or forever …it’s a Scots thing. And it’s pronounced the same as the first person singular pronoun. Check [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj5Vsm-Be4g](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj5Vsm-Be4g) for a fine rendition of one of Robert Burns best known songs. … “Aye Waukin O” ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2017, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-translation-help/777547/26 "2017-01-28T00:54:02Z")
> [@Bones\_Daley](#): > > The English don’t ever use the word “aye” to mean either yes or forever …it’s a Scots thing. That’s not correct. Plenty of rural English dialects use “aye” to mean “yes”, and it is also so used in Parliament: “The Ayes to the right…” As for “aye” as “forever”, my Shorter OED cites Gibbon for an English usage. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2017, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-translation-help/777547/27 "2017-01-30T07:06:29Z")
> [@Bones\_Daley](#): > > I cannot believe the dithering around on this topic. > > "Ready, aye ready " translates into Latin as “semper paratus” … “aye” means “always” in this context. It does **not** mean “yes” … the idea is actually laughable to anybody familiar with Scots language. I think it’s quite conceivable that a French-Canadian – even one schooled in New Glasgow – might have gotten a different impression. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/latin-translation-help/777547.md?page=1)