What is the best way to translate "Blue Monday" (a song title or a date) into Latin?
"diēs blavus Lūnae"?
"diēs blavus Lūnae"?
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blue Monday
- Thread starter Siegfried Zaytsev
- Start date
B
Bitmap
Guest
dies Lunae maestitiae plenus.
What if I want a literal translation? Because, when you see this phrase for the first time, you don't necessarily associate it with sadness/depression.
B
Bitmap
Guest
I did ... and since that's the intended meaning, it makes absolutely no sense to translate it literally with a colour adjective.
E.g. if you translated it literally into German, it would sound like a Monday where everybody gets drunk.
You can make it shorter: tristis dies Lunae.
If you're keen on a literal translation, the closest word to "blue" in classical Latin is caeruleus, I believe (blavus must be a medieval word borrowed from some Germanic language) but I agree with Bitmap that it wouldn't make much sense.
If you're keen on a literal translation, the closest word to "blue" in classical Latin is caeruleus, I believe (blavus must be a medieval word borrowed from some Germanic language) but I agree with Bitmap that it wouldn't make much sense.
Thank you, Pācifica!
So is the preferred word order "adjective diēs Lūnae" or "diēs adjective Lūnae"?
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Bitmap
Guest
It's the least ambiguous word order in this case.
Also: The i in dies is short.
Also: The i in dies is short.
Adjective first or in the middle?
Yes, sorry, I macroned the wrong letter. Fixed it in my posts.
B
Bitmap
Guest
The word order that Pacifica chose is the least ambiguous one, since otherwise you would not know whether tristis belongs to dies or to Lunae. Also ... since dies Lunae is more or less a proper name, I would put an adjective either before the two words or after the two words.
What if it is "diēs bonus Lūnae" where there is no ambiguity as to which word the adjective modifies? Is in this case putting the adjective in the middle acceptable?
B
Bitmap
Guest
I suppose you could do that ... though putting it in front position (and 'heavier' adjectives behind the two words) still makes more sense to me for the reason explained above.