2009/5/26 William Case <[email protected]> > Hi; > > That reminds me ... > > On Tue, 2009-05-26 at 11:07 +0200, M Henri Day wrote: > > > > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > > From: Guy Voets [mailto:[email protected]] > > > Sent: Tuesday, May 26, 2009 3:50 PM > > > To: [email protected] > > > Subject: Re: [users] [OT] Memorial Day > > > > > > 2009/5/26 NoOp <[email protected]>: > > > > With apologies to the list... > > > > > «*An nescis, mi fili, quantilla prudentia mundus regatur.*» > > > > Does anyone know a good site for translating Latin words and phrases? > > I studied Latin many many years ago. Hated it. I usually consider it a > good day when I have forgotten one more Latin word, however, > occasionally, I come across a phrase like the one above that I would > like to translate but nowhere have I found a clean clear site that can > do the job. > > -- > Regards Bill
Bill, I've found William Whitaker's *Words* ( http://preview.tinyurl.com/qwkh9s ) useful in this regard ; otherwise Googling «Latin phrases» brings up a plethora of sites which translate ones in common (?) use. As to the phrase above, a literal translation would be : «Do you not know, my son, with how little wisdom the world is governed ?» The Swedish statesman Axel Gustafsson Oxenstiern is said to have either written or said it to his son Johan, who, appointed to represent the Swedish crown in the negotiations which led to the Peace of Westphalia and ended the Thirty Years War, doubted his ability to do so successfully. A freer translation might be - «Not to worry my boy ; the chaps on the other side are even more stupid». The manner in which politics between (and indeed, within) nations is conducted doesn't seem to have changed significantly in the last 360 years, at least not for the better.... Henri
