never settle

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Anonymous

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Hello all!

I was hoping someone might know how to translate the english phrase
"never settle" into Latin.

I mean this in terms of not ever settling for less than you deserve; or any phrase that captures this idea.. which makes sense in latin

Any thoughts?
Thanks in advance!!!!
 
I would suggest the below with a couple of alternatives and caveats:

Numquam noli concedere.

lit translation: "Never concede"

First the alternatives. There are a couple possible words for settle in the sense that you mean: concedere and parere. I have defined both below for your review. I like concedere more so that's what I chose.

concedere - relinquish/give up/concede; depart; pardon; submit, allow/grant/permit/condone;

parere - obey, be subject/obedient to; submit/yield/comply; pay attention; attend to;

Now the caveats: The first word above, numquam, means never. There is a variation of this word with a slightly tweak meaning: nunquam (more like "at no time"). I'm not sure which is best (they may be equally appropriate). However, using "never" may not be necessary at all. For the simplicity, leaving it off changes the sentence to "Don't concede!), which without a temporal context implies "never" I think. As a last note, I think if "never" is included, it should be the first word in the sentence for proper placement.

I feel pretty confindent, but wait for someone else to chime in to confirm or correct the above. Good luck!
 

QMF

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Numquam noli is a double negative...and unlike, say, Spanish, all double negatives cancel in Latin. (They are grammatically correct however, unlike English.) Therefore "numquam noli+inf." is basically "semper+imp."
 
quemquem me facis dixit:
Numquam noli is a double negative...and unlike, say, Spanish, all double negatives cancel in Latin. (They are grammatically correct however, unlike English.) Therefore "numquam noli+inf." is basically "semper+imp."
Thanks QMF...I knew something sounded funny when I was putting it together!
 

Andy

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Yeah, basically: Never refuse to concede! As QMF said, happens in Spanish as well: Nunca rehuses ceder! Basically meaning the opposite of what was intended: Cede!
 

QMF

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Actually I said unlike in Spanish, as occasionally double negatives do not cancel in Spanish (e.g., no di nada=I gave nothing).
 

Marius Magnus

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Double negatives only cancel in Spanish when specific negation words are used. Words like "refuse" aren't included. The Spanish equivalent might be

"No cedas nunca!"

(Note: negative imperatives in Spanish have the form no + subjunctive.)
 

Andy

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But noli is lit. refuse to, be unwilling. That's why it cancels: Never be unwilling to concede (conversely; be willing to concede.

In Spanish: Nunca rehuses ceder! Means Rehusa ceder, refuse to yield, cuando? when? Nunca, never!

Hence, the cancelling out.
 

Marius Magnus

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But "nolle" is a contraction of "non velle", and "non" is a negation word. So, if Latin had double-negatives, then "numquam noli" would be negative.

QMF's point is that the second negative reverses the first.

I'm sure, however, that double negation was common in Vulgar Latin, because it appeared in all the Romance languages. Vernacular English has double-negation also; it's only in the more educated registers that double negatives are considered positives.
 

QMF

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Marius, just for reference, I made a thread a while back that asked if noli was in fact from nolle. The conclusion was made that it in fact was not, and that it was sort of its own word; a defective verb with only the imperative forms. Here is the thread: http://latinforum.org/viewtopic.php?t=1390&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=noli
As for the prevalence of double negatives in Vulgar Latin: none of us are really studying Vulgar Latin ;)
 
A

Anonymous

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Hi!
Thank you all so much for your help, but I'm just a little bit confused now... and thanks to Cato for redirecting me to the thread that already exists about the translation of "Never Settle" (and I find it quite odd that someone else had the exact same question-also for a tattoo-it seems im not very original)

in that thread they concluded between
Numquam Reside or Numquam Cede
Can someone explain the difference?
Once again, I want it to mean not settling for any less than you are capable of/you deserve)

Thank you thank you thank you
 
A

Anonymous

Guest

Hi!
Thank you all so much for your help, but I'm just a little bit confused now... and thanks to Cato for redirecting me to the thread that already exists about the translation of "Never Settle" (and I find it quite odd that someone else had the exact same question-also for a tattoo-it seems im not very original)

in that thread they concluded between
Numquam Reside or Numquam Cede
Can someone explain the difference?
Once again, I want it to mean not settling for any less than you are capable of/you deserve)

Thank you thank you thank you
 
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