Just wondering if someone could translate “The open road is calling” into Latin for me.
On a motorcycle message board I frequent we’ve been playing around with this online seal generator. I did a joke seal and want to balance that with a straight one. Latin mottos are so fashionable, but “Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum videtur” is too long. So, the translation doesn’t have to be perfect since it’ll never go beyond that thread.
How about “via libera vocat”?
Via propatuala vocat.
I spelled that wrong. It’s Via propatula vocat.
‘propatula’ is closer in exact meaning, but it’s a very obscure word. No one (okay, very very few people) would be able to understand the meaning immediately.
[QUOTE=Helen’s Eidolon]
‘propatula’ is closer in exact meaning, but it’s a very obscure word. No one (okay, very very few people) would be able to understand the meaning immediately.
[/QUOTE]
That’s true but I read your rendering as “the free road is calling.”
::shrug:: I guess it’s a question of taste. The OP can decide for himself.
Actually, it occurs to me that via libera could also be read as “free way.” which creates a nice pun in English.
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic]
Actually, it occurs to me that via libera could also be read as “free way.” which creates a nice pun in English.
[/QUOTE]
That’s exactly what I was thinking. I vote for Via Libera Vocat.
Some creative googling got me " patefacio via est dico". That’s short , sweet and concise, no?
[QUOTE=Abby_Emma_Sasha]
Some creative googling got me " patefacio via est dico". That’s short , sweet and concise, no?
[/QUOTE]
I don’t want to sound rude, but this sentence is acually gibberish in Latin. Patefacio is a verb, not an adjectve and the form you used is first person, singular (“I throw open”). The est would be redundant with a present active verb (the “is” part is already built into the verb. Vocat already means "he/she/it is calling*). Dico only means “call” in the sense of naming something (“call me Al”) and you also used the first person form for that verb.
What your sentence translates to is “I throw open the way it is I dub.”
Well, I actually like “I throw open the way it is I dub” , it’s kind of charming and quirky. And the OP said it didn’t have to be perfect. I stand by my gibberish.
Sure, ‘libera’ means free. But it has connotations of empty of obstacles, open for use etc. that make it appropriate.
Why doesn’t babelfish have a Latin translator?
A more literal translation would be Via deserta vocat.
But I’d go for Via longa vocat - not literal but better sense.
I hate to be such a nitpicker, but you must be using a different dictionary than mine - ‘deserta’ means deserted, solitary, lonely and ‘longa’ means, well, long (or spacious, but that’s pretty poetic and metaphorical).
Can I jump onto your coattails? I wanted to design a seal for a friend, and wanted to find someone to translate this phrase into Latin: “I’ll burn that bridge when I come to it.”
Any help here, or should I start a new thread?
Thanks!
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic]
I don’t want to sound rude, but this sentence is acually gibberish in Latin. Patefacio is a verb, not an adjectve and the form you used is first person, singular (“I throw open”). The est would be redundant with a present active verb (the “is” part is already built into the verb. Vocat already means "he/she/it is calling*). Dico only means “call” in the sense of naming something (“call me Al”) and you also used the first person form for that verb.
What your sentence translates to is “I throw open the way it is I dub.”
[/QUOTE]
Now, make him write it the correct way 100 times on the wall.
[QUOTE=lissener]
Can I jump onto your coattails? I wanted to design a seal for a friend, and wanted to find someone to translate this phrase into Latin: “I’ll burn that bridge when I come to it.”
Any help here, or should I start a new thread?
Thanks!
[/QUOTE]
Pontem comburam cum perveniam, ¿perhaps? And for the record, I like “via longa”; couldn’t that refer to “open[-ended] road, road without end”?
[QUOTE=Helen’s Eidolon]
…‘longa’ means, well, long (or spacious, but that’s pretty poetic and metaphorical).
[/QUOTE]
I think that was the point. There’s no Latin word that exactly captures the nuances of “open” in the sense that the OP is using it, so the translator has to pick something close. The notion of an open road carries a connotation of just going out driving and not having to worry about running out of road. Translating it as “long road” fits nicely.
Thanks for the help, guys. I went with Via longa vocat. Seems to capture the sense of the phrase the best. BTW, this is the joke seal it was meant to balance. Admittedly, it’s not very funny outside a very narrow context.
[QUOTE=lissener]
Can I jump onto your coattails? I wanted to design a seal for a friend, and wanted to find someone to translate this phrase into Latin: “I’ll burn that bridge when I come to it.”
Any help here, or should I start a new thread?
Thanks!
[/QUOTE]
Feel free to hijack this thread, but it might be cool if we had a “Let’s translate things into Latin” thread.
