Comments on: QUIZ: kidlit is a genre dead as dead can be!

By: Casuistry

Casuistry — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 19:10:15 +0000

The pre-story pages in which Dr. Seuss has Sam announce, “I am Sam. Sam-I-Am,” here become, Sum ‘Pincerna’ nominatus. Famulari…nunc paratus! In other (English) words: “I’m called the server. To serve I’m prepared.”

Not bad! I’m glad they went with medieval rhymegasms, too.

By: pˆnk s lord sükråt cunctør

pˆnk s lord sükråt cunctør — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 08:48:13 +0000

not samsum sadly — i peeked at the time and remember thinking “ooh clever” but forgot it since :(

By: Casuistry

Casuistry — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 00:45:55 +0000

I read a few chapters of Winnie-Ille-Pu at some point… The Latin is, unsurprisingly, a bit odd. Virent Ova! Viret Perna!! is indeed a pretty choice rendering, but what’s the main character’s name? “Samsum”?

By: pˆnk s lord sükråt cunctør

pˆnk s lord sükråt cunctør — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 21:22:41 +0000

ie “virent ova” and “ova virent” means exactly the same thing, except the first keeps you in (micro)suspense as to what it is that’s going be being green

By: pˆnk s lord sükråt cunctør

pˆnk s lord sükråt cunctør — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 21:21:25 +0000

the grinch one is pretty easily guessable: what’s nice abt it is that “Invidiosulus Nomine Grinchus” means something like “that little shit by name GRINCHUS”

in fact, just based on the titles, i think the dr seuss translator is a bit of a star — latin gets lots of its subtle energy from word-order (which can vary far more than english), so there’s a lot of fun (or expression) had with anticipation within a sentence

By: pˆnk s lord sükråt cunctør

pˆnk s lord sükråt cunctør — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 21:16:18 +0000

yes i think regulus is the most tricky: it’s st exupery’s “petit prince” and it more normally means a “minor king” or “kinglet” (regulus = diminutive of rex. a king)

i forgot about “virent ova viret perna” being hard bcz this was the one i saw in foyles’ linguistics dept (looking for something w.vick) which made me hunt them down — it kinda translates as “they glow green: EGGS! it glows green: HAM!!” (ie “to be green” is a pretty gutsy one-word verb in latin, not a mimsy copulative-plus-adjective like we have in english)

By: Marcello Carlin

Marcello Carlin — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 17:47:05 +0000

um, it’s actually Walter the F*rting Dog…and no, I don’t know it either… ;-)

By: Lena

Lena — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 16:05:10 +0000

Walter the Flying Dog? I don’t know that one…

By: Marcello Carlin

Marcello Carlin — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 11:50:41 +0000

I think that’s the official biography of top seventies avant-pub rock band Roogalator.

By: anatol_merklich

anatol_merklich — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 11:42:14 +0000

“Virent ova!” etc maybe the most difficult? Something with green eggs??

“Regulus” = “The Little Prince”? Literally more like “The Little King”, but I don’t know of that book.

By: Marcello Carlin

Marcello Carlin — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 11:28:38 +0000

The “Grinchus” kind of gave the “difficult” one away…

By: Rosie

Rosie — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 11:10:27 +0000

Wot? No Iemima Anate Aquatica?

By: katie

katie — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 10:10:53 +0000

Where is COMETES IN TERRA MOOMINI eh?