I just need a Latin translation for the phrase "Never Fight on Equal Terms" to have it tattooed on me. I would appreciate any help you could provide. Yahoo Answers' members cannot give me an exact translation. Using synonyms to translate the phrase would be awesome. Thanks in advance!
Noli in aequore pugnare might work. there are tons of classical military idioms/expressions, though. There's bound to be one that's close to what you're looking for. Please wait for more input/suggestions. This might not even make sense.
One of the Yahoo Answers' members gave a suggestion of "nunquam" for the word "never" or "i never". is that true? I believe "Noli" means "Not"? I hope I could help..
Hello! I was the answerer on that question. "Numquam" means "never", and the second word on your phrase had a different meaning depending on the last letter. You had written both "oppugno/pugna" or something like that. "Oppugno" means "I fight", and "oppugna" is the command "fight!". (despite what my answer seemed to imply, "numquam oppugna" is grammatically incorrect as well) "Noli" means "do not (do something)". Instead of "numquam", "never", you would use "umquam", "ever", with "noli". To the community - I answered his question on Y!A to point out that the phrase he currently had was wrong. I couldn't offer a valid translation myself because I don't know of an equivalent to "on equal terms".
Just got home and checked the OLD. aequa manu is listed in the context of fighting as, "on equal terms" So perhaps: noli aequa manu pugnare
I was going to suggest manibus aequis (saw it in Tacitus) but Cinefactus recommended pretty much the same thing
Yes, both singular and plural are listed in the same entry as having the same meaning, so you could probably choose either. To make the translation strictly literal, it would be noli umquam aequa manu pugnare (Never fight on equal terms - said to one person) nolite umquam aequa manu pugnare the same, addressing more than one person or alternatively noli / nolite umquam aequis manibus pugnare
so everyone agrees? thank you guys!! i just want to know which translation is better: "noli umquam aequa manu pugnare" or "noli umquam aequis manibus pugnare"? want to make sure before i get inked. and i would really appreciate if you have any ideas on Latin fonts..
That is how it would be chiseled in a Roman inscription. But please don't use all Gothic capitals, this was never used in any period (other than by modern tattoo artists).
That’s the same thing but with manibus (‘hands’, here used to translate ‘terms’) missed out. Do you have any reason to think it’s OK?
