english to latin

[tigress85]

I would like to translate Madonna's quote - Better to live one year as a tiger, than a hundered as a sheep - into a full latin phrase

If anyone could help me ( the more suggestions the better) it would be greatly appreciated!

[ChuckFickens]

Melior vivo unus annus ut a tiger , quam a hundered ut pecus

[tigress85]

Thankyou Chuckfickins, that reads so much better than what i was getting!

I know I'm being picky in saying this but should "tiger" be "tigre"? I'm not sure how latin works in general.

Actually I'm now fascinated by how you came up with such a concise answer so quickly! :)

[ChuckFickens]

using an online latin translator, http://www.stars21.com/translator/english_to_l atin.html

the Latin for tiger is Tigris so I guess that should replace tiger

there is actually another mistake in my first reply because I didn't spot your misspelling of hundred so it wasn't translated. the correct translation should be

Melior vivo unus annus ut a tigris , quam a centum ut pecus

[Quizmonster]

Online translation sites are generally worthless, unless you are pretty knowledgeable about the language concerned in any case. For example, regarding the answer above, vivo means 'I live' not 'to live' and quite what the word 'a' is doing in there, I have no idea! The Latin word, a, means from, away from or since and has nothing to do with our word 'a'.
Here's my suggestion...
Per annum solum ut tigris quam per saeculum ut ovis vivere melior est.
Literally, word by word, that means...
During a year single as a tiger than during a century as a sheep to live better it is.
Might sound nonsensical, but Latin grammar and word-order are not the same as English.

My advice to you - based on past experience of questions involving Latin on AnswerBank - is to check with an 'expert' whatever answer(s) you get here...including mine! For example, if your local secondary school has a Classics Department or even just a solitary Latin teacher, try to get a response from him/her. An alternative is to approach a local Catholic priest. If the answer really matters, just getting loads of 'suggestions' is not really a very good idea!

[fredpuli47]

I'll try to be poetic and neat:;

" Melius tigris per annum solum vivere quam ovis saeculum"

"Better to live one single year as a tiger than a hundred years as a sheep"

If you prefer literally 'one' to the idea of 'just one' ' a single', 'but one' or 'one alone', put 'unum' for 'solum'.

Saeculum =, the most a man may live, taken to have the meaning of a hundred years,. A Roman centenarian had his saeculum.Here we are talking of living a hundred years.

In Latin, not only does word order not matter, but a lot is taken as understood. Tigris means both 'the tiger' and 'a tiger' because Latin had no 'the' or 'a'. And I see no need for any word for 'like' 'in the manner of' or 'as' because tigris on its own can only refer to 'to live' so the meaning must be ' live as a tiger' , confirmed by 'rather than a sheep' in the Latin that follows.

[Quizmonster]

So, apart from my use of 'ut', Fred has employed exactly the same set of words, albeit in a different order. Certainly his answer is briefer and it may well be more poetic.

At least the agreement suggests we are both on the right lines, but - if you plan to have this tattooed on your body, for example - I'd still advise you to seek expert advice.