horas non numero nisi aestivas

veritas aequitas

Member

Location:
canada
hello

i'm looking at this now and not even sure it is latin so if it's not, forgive me.

my understanding of what this means is roughly "i only count the sunny hours."

if it is indeed latin, can you tell me if that's correct? or what the english translation of it is?
and the first two letters of the last word are smushed together and are capital AE so the right side of the A is the same part that is the straight line of the E, if that makes sense. so i think those are the correct letters.

thanks

:)
 
 

Dantius

Homo Sapiens

  • Civis Illustris

Location:
in orbe lacteo
It is indeed Latin. Your translation is correct, though you could also say "I only count the summer hours". More literally, "I don't count hours unless (they are) summer (hours)."
 
E

Etaoin Shrdlu

Guest

Ithough you could also say "I only count the summer hours". More literally, "I don't count hours unless (they are) summer (hours)."
The OP doesn't specify the context, but it's commonly on a sundial, and I believe more often in the form horas non numero nisi serenas. So as an inspirational quote it has a bit of a point, or at least joke, that modern ones tend to lack.
 

DavidA

New Member

'Aestivas' is very apt, as this inscription is (only?) seen on the memorial to William Willett in Petts Wood - he was an ardent proponent of changing the clocks for British Summer Time to save daylight, so to speak.
'Named the Willett memorial wood in honour of William and his ideas, at its heart is a commemorative sundial, permanently set to British Summer Time' (unlike most sundials), so the 'literal' translation above is quite correct..
 
 

Dantius

Homo Sapiens

  • Civis Illustris

Location:
in orbe lacteo
The OP doesn't specify the context, but it's commonly on a sundial, and I believe more often in the form horas non numero nisi serenas. So as an inspirational quote it has a bit of a point, or at least joke, that modern ones tend to lack.
This came up in a certamen tournament in 2019 (asking what kind of object you'd find such a quote on) and I knew it sounded familiar. Perhaps this is where I first heard about it.
 

Laurentius

Civis Illustris

  • Civis Illustris

Location:
Lago Duria
It is also from an old thread, I believe we also discussed how it seems to be an endecasyllable with a mistake (the form with serenas).
 
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