Latin translation help needed for mottos

[Nan in Mass]

I am ordering a diploma! Yikes! Two, actually, since we never got around to doing this for oldest.

 

Could somebody translate this into Latin for me? I could take a stab at it myself but I want to be sure it is right and I am unsure about which endings are motto endings.

 

The mottos (not very sophisticated but they were chosen when my children were small, with simplicity in mind lol):

 

Good and Strong

 

Be good. Be cheerful. Work hard.

 

Thank you!

Nan

[Maureen]

I'll take a stab at it. Good and strong = Bonus et Potens or Pius et Valens. Bonus is a generic word for good while Pius adds a moral element of goodness. Potens is usually denoting physical strength while Valens adds a feeling of wellness as well. For your second motto, the words you seem to want are the imperative forms of the words. I would use either Approba or Aude for the Be Good. Aude connotes a sense of daring or the courage to act in a bold manner. For Be cheerful I would suggest Gaude which mean to rejoice or have joy. For work hard, Labora Cum Poteste would mean work with strength. The cum would be optional since poteste is in the ablative case and is understood to mean by, with, or from. If you are looking for something different in your second motto like "To be good" Esse is the infinitive "to be " in Latin. Good Luck!

[Maureen]

I will add that these are the singular imperative forms of the words. If you are stating the command to multiple people, the words would be Approbate, Audete, Gaudete, and Laborate.

[Nan in Mass]

Lovely. That is perfect. Thank you very much. The second batch were commands. Whenever anybody broke one when we were sitting around the kitchen table doing school work, we all had to put our hands over our heads and chant it - silly but effective. I did it too lol. Are mottos usually addressed to single people or to multiple people.

 

Nan

[Candid]

I am ordering a diploma! Yikes! Two, actually, since we never got around to doing this for oldest.

 

Could somebody translate this into Latin for me? I could take a stab at it myself but I want to be sure it is right and I am unsure about which endings are motto endings.

 

The mottos (not very sophisticated but they were chosen when my children were small, with simplicity in mind lol):

 

Good and Strong

 

Be good. Be cheerful. Work hard.

 

Thank you!

Nan

 

 

Your motto is longer than ours, but I got mine when my oldest was four from a Kipling story" "Run and find out." I still am fond of it.

[Maureen]

I have no idea if there is a rule of thumb about mottos being singular or plural. I would go with whichever gives the meaning of the motto best. Are you giving a charge to the world? or Is it more of an introspective thought?

[Nan in Mass]

Your motto is longer than ours, but I got mine when my oldest was four from a Kipling story" "Run and find out." I still am fond of it.

 

 

I love yours! I have Law of the Jungle up on bathroom wall along with the Desiderata and a few other things lol.

 

Nan

[Candid]

I love yours! I have Law of the Jungle up on bathroom wall along with the Desiderata and a few other things lol.

 

Nan

 

First, in truth, it belonged to the Mongoose family first (or at least Kipling said it did).

 

Next, what is the law of the jungle? I'm feeling particularly grumpy today, so I need either a laugh or rules for eating the unhelpful.

[Nan in Mass]

I have no idea if there is a rule of thumb about mottos being singular or plural. I would go with whichever gives the meaning of the motto best. Are you giving a charge to the world? or Is it more of an introspective thought?

 

Hmmm... if this were elementary school, then it would be a charge to the world, or at least to the child, but since this is high school, perhaps introspective thought would be more appropriate, a fervent wish for oneself? Sort of a that I be good feel? That doesn't work in English but I think maybe it does in French - que je sois whatever? I had a look at some non-English mottos (so I could see the ending) and they seem to be in the singular. ( Provehito in altum (Launch forth into the deep) was one I found for a college in Newfoundland. I suppose it would be appropriate for my sea-faring family but I don't like it lol. The deep in my family means down into the ocean, not someplace I want my children going - at -all. Shudder. I wonder if the Wikipaedia motto page didn't get the translation quite right? Is altum really the deep? I thought alt-whatever was high? In which case you would have a deep space feel to the motto. Hmmm...) I found several that used aude. I suppose a stronger introspective feel would be "I will be good. I will be cheerful. I will work hard." That doesn't seem as motto-ish, though.

 

Nan

 

Edited to add: Youngest thought Gaudete was beautiful and that we should just make the rest of the motto match that form.

[Nan in Mass]

 

First, in truth, it belonged to the Mongoose family first (or at least Kipling said it did).

 

Next, what is the law of the jungle? I'm feeling particularly grumpy today, so I need either a laugh or rules for eating the unhelpful.

 

That's right. I remember about teh mongooses now.

 

The law of the jungle one I was refering to was also Kipling. I'm afraid it isn't going to be very helpful if you are feeling grumpy. The "Launch forth into the deep" motto might be more helpful lol.

 

The Law for the Wolves

 

 

 

 

 

"NOW this is the law of the jungle, as old and as true as the sky,

And the wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the wolf that shall break it must die.

 

As the creeper that girdles the tree trunk, the law runneth forward and back;

For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack.

 

Wash daily from nose tip to tail tip; drink deeply, but never too deep;

And remember the night is for hunting and forget not the day is for sleep.

 

The jackal may follow the tiger, but, cub, when thy whiskers are grown,

Remember the wolf is a hunter—go forth and get food of thy own.

 

Keep peace with the lords of the jungle, the tiger, the panther, the bear;

And trouble not Hathi the Silent, and mock not the boar in his lair.

 

When pack meets with pack in the jungle, and neither will go from the trail,

Lie down till the leaders have spoken; it may be fair words shall prevail.

 

When ye fight with a wolf of the pack ye must fight him alone and afar,

Lest others take part in the quarrel and the pack is diminished by war.

 

 

 

 

The lair of the wolf is his refuge, and where he has made him his home,

Not even the head wolf may enter, not even the council may come.

 

The lair of the wolf is his refuge, but where he has digged it too plain,

The council shall send him a message, and so he shall change it again.

 

If ye kill before midnight be silent and wake not the woods with your bay,

Lest ye frighten the deer from the crop and thy brothers go empty away.

 

Ye may kill for yourselves, and your mates, and your cubs as they need and ye can;

But kill not for pleasure of killing, and seven times never kill man.

 

If ye plunder his kill from a weaker, devour not all in thy pride,

Pack-right is the right of the meanest; so leave him the head and the hide.

 

The kill of the pack is the meat of the pack. Ye must eat where it lies;

And no one may carry away of that meat to his lair, or he dies.

 

The kill of the wolf is the meat of the wolf. He may do what he will,

But, till he is given permission, the pack may not eat of that kill.

 

Lair right is the right of the mother. From all of her years she may claim

One haunch of each kill for her litter, and none may deny her the same.

 

Cub right is the right of the yearling. From all of his pack he may claim

Full gorge when the killer has eaten; and none may refuse him the same.

 

Cave right is the right of the father, to hunt by himself for his own;

He is freed from all calls to the pack. He is judged by the council alone.

 

Because of his age and his cunning, because of his gripe and his paw,

In all that the law leaveth open the word of the head wolf is law.

 

Now these are the laws of the jungle, and many and mighty are they;

But the head and the hoof of the law and the haunch and the hump is—Obey!"

 

—Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936)

 

Nan

[Nan in Mass]

Hmm... Older one reminded me this morning that "Be patient" was in there. Guess it's been awhile since we've used it. That was probably a mistake, since my older teens could certainly have been more cheerful and patient. At that point, I was grateful for what I could get - the good and hard working part. (LOL he also reminded me of the four rules I made up in desperation one day to keep them from fighting with each other.) He suggested using the characteristics form of the words - Good, cheerful, patient, and hardworking - because the idea is to imply that the students of this school have this characteristic, but when I read him the Latin imperitive, he laughed and said it sounded fine in Latin that way, it was just in English that it sounded strange as a motto. I'm not sure he remembers enough of his Latin for the ending to have any meaning to him. I suspect he was remembering the Boy Scout motto. I noticed that the imperiative was relatively rare in the English translations when I was reading through the Wikipaedia list of mottos. But I think, even so, I would like to use it in the form that we used it when they were growing up, for continuity's sake. Thinking out loud here... So - is there a version of be patient that would go well with Audete, Gaudete, Laborate cum Poteste? That rolls off one's tongue so nicely that I hate to do anything to it.

 

Nan

[Maureen]

In answer to your earlier question, "altus" means high or deep. Not sure how you would want to add Be Patient into your motto as it doesn't fit quite so well as a verb form. Maybe you could add it in with Laborate cum Poteste et Patientia. If you like the Paciencia spelling better that is more of the middle ages spelling coming off of the Latin pax, pacis (the noun for peace). They are both the ablative forms for the noun patience. The other way I can think of would require using the verb habete (have) or tenete (hold). I know that in Latin sayings translating into English as "remember" they use "tenete in memoria" literally meaning hold in memory. I guess if it was me I like Audete, Gaudete, Laborate cum Paciencia et Poteste. I like the idea of combining the need to work hard and yet be patient.

[Nan in Mass]

I like the idea of combining the need to work hard and patiently, too. That is really where the patience comes into things. And peace studies were a major part of our homeschooling, so the spelling that has a link to pax would be appropriate for my family. Am I right in thinking that the Latin version now has some subtlties that the English one does not, and that it is much better in Latin? Interesting about alte meaning both deep and high - everything going out from the center rather than different labels for different directions? : ) All this is making me want go back to studying Latin.

 

Thank you so much!

 

Nancy

[Maureen]

You're very welcome. I always think sayings take on more meaning when translating because you have to think about the connotations of the words. It is one of the real benefits in learning another language as it gives you a new awareness of words and their subtleties. I love your mottos.