Awesome! So, that quote in Latin, "non sum qualis eram bonae sub regno Cynarae..." Google says it means "I am not as good as I was under the rule of ARTICHOKE." I kid you not. And I was wondering, well, /why/?
b-rton

Machine translation from Latin to English is nearly impossible because of the issue of word order.

I mean, not that online translators are any good anyway, but for Latin they are specifically awful.

The thing about Latin, and almost every Latin phrase used in the TMI and ID books, is that these phrases are extremely famous on their own.  In this case the Latin comes from Horace, and Googling the phrase, in quotes or without, will instantly get you the source, the Dowson poem based on the source quote that Stephen is alluding to, and an entire breakdown of the poem, its format, its meaning, the translation of the Latin phrase, and even a discussion of artichokes.

Posted 12 months ago
33 notes
  1. notasrealasfiction said: I take latin in school and though I love the class, it’s almost never useful, so I LOVE that your books make my knowledge handy!
  2. cassandraclare posted this