Hiya, years ago when I was a teenager I remember my mother had a desk plaque, given to her by a colleague which had the (supposed) Latin phrase of " Iligitimus non tatum carborundum" , and on the back of the plaque was the English translation of " Don't let the bastards grind you down".
I've always liked the jist of this statement and in Latin it just seems to sound good. I have been considering for some time, having the text tattoo'd on my lower arm, however I wanted to be entirely sure of the translation and correct use of Latin. Over the years some people I've come across have questioned the translation and in all probability they are right. However those who commented had little more proficiency in Latin than I do and mine amounts to the snippets collected from a catholic education and the occasional times I paid attention as a child when Latin was used extensively during the catholic mass. They never covered phrases like this though. I would greatly appreciate any help on this as I very much want to have it tattoo'd, but don't want to spend the rest of my life having debates about whether or not it says what I think and if the grammer is correct.
Thank you very much, i hope you can help.
John Boyle
Glasgow
Scotland
I've always liked the jist of this statement and in Latin it just seems to sound good. I have been considering for some time, having the text tattoo'd on my lower arm, however I wanted to be entirely sure of the translation and correct use of Latin. Over the years some people I've come across have questioned the translation and in all probability they are right. However those who commented had little more proficiency in Latin than I do and mine amounts to the snippets collected from a catholic education and the occasional times I paid attention as a child when Latin was used extensively during the catholic mass. They never covered phrases like this though. I would greatly appreciate any help on this as I very much want to have it tattoo'd, but don't want to spend the rest of my life having debates about whether or not it says what I think and if the grammer is correct.
Thank you very much, i hope you can help.
John Boyle
Glasgow
Scotland