# Translate something into Latin, please. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 20, 2006, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translate-something-into-latin-please/373484 "2006-09-20T22:33:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jet\_Jaguar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jet_jaguar/32/3562_2.png) [@Jet\_Jaguar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jet_Jaguar)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translate-something-into-latin-please/373484/1 "2006-09-20T22:33:10Z")
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](http://www.says-it.com/seal/index.php). 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. ---
**Author:** ![Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helen_s_Eidolon)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2006, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translate-something-into-latin-please/373484/2 "2006-09-21T02:10:48Z")
How about “via libera vocat”? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2006, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translate-something-into-latin-please/373484/3 "2006-09-21T02:17:26Z")
_Via propatuala vocat_. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2006, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translate-something-into-latin-please/373484/4 "2006-09-21T02:18:46Z")
I spelled that wrong. It’s _Via propatula vocat_. ---
**Author:** ![Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helen_s_Eidolon)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2006, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translate-something-into-latin-please/373484/5 "2006-09-21T02:25:09Z")
‘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. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2006, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translate-something-into-latin-please/373484/6 "2006-09-21T03:10:18Z")
[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. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2006, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translate-something-into-latin-please/373484/7 "2006-09-21T03:11:48Z")
Actually, it occurs to me that _via libera_ could also be read as “free way.” which creates a nice pun in English. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2006, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translate-something-into-latin-please/373484/8 "2006-09-21T04:26:46Z")
[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. ---
**Author:** ![Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abby_Emma_Sasha)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2006, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translate-something-into-latin-please/373484/9 "2006-09-21T12:12:31Z")
Some creative googling got me " patefacio via est dico". That’s short , sweet and concise, no? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2006, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translate-something-into-latin-please/373484/10 "2006-09-21T12:57:37Z")
[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.” ---
**Author:** ![Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abby_Emma_Sasha)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2006, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translate-something-into-latin-please/373484/11 "2006-09-21T13:03:02Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helen_s_Eidolon)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2006, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translate-something-into-latin-please/373484/12 "2006-09-21T13:04:57Z")
Sure, ‘libera’ means free. But it has connotations of empty of obstacles, open for use etc. that make it appropriate. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2006, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translate-something-into-latin-please/373484/13 "2006-09-21T13:05:55Z")
Why doesn’t babelfish have a Latin translator? ---
**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:** [September 21, 2006, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translate-something-into-latin-please/373484/14 "2006-09-21T19:29:24Z")
A more literal translation would be _Via deserta vocat_. But I’d go for _Via longa vocat_ - not literal but better sense. ---
**Author:** ![Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helen_s_Eidolon)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2006, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translate-something-into-latin-please/373484/15 "2006-09-21T21:08:10Z")
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). ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2006, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translate-something-into-latin-please/373484/16 "2006-09-21T23:10:05Z")
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! ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2006, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translate-something-into-latin-please/373484/17 "2006-09-21T23:19:31Z")
[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. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2006, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translate-something-into-latin-please/373484/18 "2006-09-22T00:50:54Z")
[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”? ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2006, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translate-something-into-latin-please/373484/19 "2006-09-22T01:32:42Z")
[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. ---
**Author:** ![Jet\_Jaguar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jet_jaguar/32/3562_2.png) [@Jet\_Jaguar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jet_Jaguar)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2006, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translate-something-into-latin-please/373484/20 "2006-09-22T12:17:58Z")
Thanks for the help, guys. I went with [Via longa vocat](http://bellsouthpwp.net/J/e/JetJaguar/Temp/SEAL_001.GIF). Seems to capture the sense of the phrase the best. BTW, [this is the joke seal](http://bellsouthpwp.net/J/e/JetJaguar/Temp/SEAL_002.GIF) 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. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/translate-something-into-latin-please/373484.md?page=2)