Tomorrow is never promised

[angrydawg78]

Hello, I was really really hoping somebody could translate "tomorrow is never promised" or "The next day is never promised" into latin for me! any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank YOU!!!

I saw a suggested translation on yahoo answers, for "the next day is never promised" and it was: Postridies Numquam Pollicetur? is that possibly correct?

 

[Bitmap]

Re: Translate: tomorrow is never promised???

I saw a suggested translation on yahoo answers, for "the next day is never promised" and it was: Postridies Numquam Pollicetur? is that possibly correct?

I'm afraid it's not ... Postridies is not a word, and even if it were, pollicetur means "promises" rather than "is promised". You could go with "Crastinum [or crastinus dies] numquam [pro certo] promittitur" if you want a direct translation of your phrase.

There might be other ways of translating it a bit more loosely that may sound a bit better in Latin ... maybe "crastinum semper incertum" (tomorrow is always uncertain) ... you should wait for other suggestions

 

[angrydawg78]

Re: Translate: tomorrow is never promised???

Thank you very much for your help with the interpretations. I will wait and see if anyone else has any more info also. but a little bit of help is definitly appreciated greatly! I was going to get a tattoo of the saying or a similar saying that basically meant the same thing so I want to make sure that the latin is close to true as I can get it! so thanks again, and if anybody else has a take on the translation PLEASE let me here it!! or If you agree with Crastinum numquam Promittitur let me know that also!!!!!!!!!

 

[Matthaeus]

Re: Translate: tomorrow is never promised???

But why 'crastinum' instead of 'crastinus'? We're talking nominative here, right? Or is dies neuter?

 

[Bitmap]

Re: Translate: tomorrow is never promised???

it's either dies crastinus or just crastinum, which is a neuter noun

 

[angrydawg78]

Re: Translate: tomorrow is never promised???

is it possible to change promittitur to pollicitus or does this raise some complication that I just am not aware of, latin is fasinating to me, just wish i would have took more interest in it 10 years ago ha ha!

 

[Bitmap]

Re: Translate: tomorrow is never promised???

is it possible to change promittitur to pollicitus

no

 

[angrydawg78]

Re: Translate: tomorrow is never promised???

alrighty! sounds likes its settled then, thank you very much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am just curious because I was looking at the notre dame tranlsation guide and I couldn't find promittitur, they had promitto, promittere, etc... and then I just noticed that pollicitus was a suggested for promised. what type of ending is the "itur" on promittitur, or I guess I should ask why it ends in "itur"???

 

[Bitmap]

Re: Translate: tomorrow is never promised???

promittitur is the 3rd person singular present passive indicative of promittere.

Pollicitus is the perfect participle of polliceor, which you can't use in this sentence.

 

[angrydawg78]

Re: Translate: tomorrow is never promised???

Ok! you've answered all my questions and then some! I thank you very much!

 

[Anonymous]

Re: Translate: tomorrow is never promised???

As was said before, 'crastinum numquam promittitur' is the right translation (in case you are going to get a tattoo or something )

 

[Matthaeus]

Re: Translate: tomorrow is never promised???

Or you could quote the overly famous Horatian verse: carpe diem, quam minime credula postero. Trust as little in tomorrow as possible, and you can omit the carpe diem.
Here's a great resource for Latin proverbs and their English translations: http://books.google.com/books?id=9OIqAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA438&lpg=PA438&dq="quam+minime+credula+postero"+ovid&source=bl&ots=VJXYC0bGqk&sig=AV_x9F2_38ZdlyAIYqLMCfozubM&hl=en&ei=VGmtSePLOcyatwfqiYSHBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=4&ct=result

 

[Bitmap]

Re: Translate: tomorrow is never promised???

Or you could quote the overly famous Horatian verse: carpe diem, quam minime credula postero. Trust as little in tomorrow as possible, and you can omit the carpe diem.

I memorised it as quam minimum
but leaving out the carpe diem makes it look a bit weird, because you'd not have a verb in a sentence that you want to be in the imperative

 

[Matthaeus]

Re: Translate: tomorrow is never promised???

I guess both could work, but what about credula? WORDS gives it as an adjective - credulous, trusting, gullible. How does it fit in with the rest of the phrase?

 

[Bitmap]

Re: Translate: tomorrow is never promised???

Yes, it's an adjective. The poem is dedicated to a woman. I assume it translates

Carpe diem, quam mininum, credula postero
Seize the day, as little as possible (being) someone (i.e. a girl) trusting the next (day)

at least that's the way I understand it.

 

[Matthaeus]

Re: Translate: tomorrow is never promised???

Thanks, it makes more sense. But to me it seems that there is a form of sum left out, like quam minimum credula postero sis - be credulous as little as possible in the morrow. What's the scientific term here for verb omission? Ellipsis?

 

[Bitmap]

Re: Translate: tomorrow is never promised???

Thanks, it makes more sense. But to me it seems that there is a form of sum left out, like quam minimum credula postero sis - be credulous as little as possible in the morrow. What's the scientific term here for verb omission? Ellipsis?

The scientific term would be ellipsis, but I don't think that's the case here.

I believe credula is just the subject of the sentence. Imperative sentence can have an explicit subject as well ... and it's poetry anyway

 

[Imber Ranae]

Re: Translate: tomorrow is never promised???

It seems there's an assumed present participle of the copula, which Latin happens to lack. So I think you have to understand credula as the equivalent of credens. That's how I take it, anyway.

 

[Bitmap]

Re: Translate: tomorrow is never promised???

It seems there's an assumed present participle of the copula, which Latin happens to lack. So I think you have to understand credula as the equivalent of credens. That's how I take it, anyway.

that's more or less what I was trying to say

 

[Matthaeus]

Re: Translate: tomorrow is never promised???

So credula, an adjective, works here as a subject/noun? Another version could be quam minimum credens postero? The credens referring to that woman, right?