Til innholdet

Translation help

fra ludomastro,2014 4 30

Meldinger: 8

Språk: English

ludomastro (Å vise profilen) 2014 4 30 14:40:17

I'm trying to translate a old saying, "The sword is never a killer; it is a tool in the killer's hands."

I think it would be "Neniam estas la glavo murdisto; gxi estas ilo en la manoj de murdisto."

Is there a better way to render that thought?

Balbutanto (Å vise profilen) 2014 4 30 16:19:43

ludomastro:I'm trying to translate a old saying, "The sword is never a killer; it is a tool in the killer's hands."

I think it would be "Neniam estas la glavo murdisto; gxi estas ilo en la manoj de murdisto."

Is there a better way to render that thought?
Ne murdas la glavo mem, sed ĝia uzanto.

Hmm. A bit laconic, it seems.

Clarence666 (Å vise profilen) 2014 4 30 16:30:07

> Is there a better way to render that thought?

Glavo sen gxia tenanto ne kapablas murdi, sed murdisto povas murdi ecx sen glavo.

nornen (Å vise profilen) 2014 4 30 16:35:39

La glavo iam kaj iam estas murdilo,
la murdisto ĉiam kaj ĉiam estas homo.

sudanglo (Å vise profilen) 2014 4 30 19:09:07

mortigas ne la glavo, sed tiu, kiu ĝin svingas (kun intenco)

morfran (Å vise profilen) 2014 4 30 21:42:50

A more literal translation, though not a zippier one:

(Per si mem) glavo neniun mortigas: ĝi estas (nur) armilo de mortiganto.

(From Seneca’s Quemadmodum gladius neminem occidit: occidentis telum est.)

ludomastro (Å vise profilen) 2014 5 1 02:05:52

morfran:A more literal translation, though not a zippier one:

(Per si mem) glavo neniun mortigas: ĝi estas (nur) armilo de mortiganto.

(From Seneca’s Quemadmodum gladius neminem occidit: occidentis telum est.)
You nailed the quote from Seneca. I like your translation; however, I'm confused by arm-il-o. I know that "ilo" is "tool" and the dictionary tells me that "armilo" is "weapon." However, I don't know what "armo" would be.

morfran (Å vise profilen) 2014 5 1 02:47:00

ludomastro:however, I'm confused by arm-il-o. I know that "ilo" is "tool" and the dictionary tells me that "armilo" is "weapon." However, I don't know what "armo" would be.
Armilo is an instrument of armi, that is, “to arm” (“provizi per bataliloj, por ataki aŭ defendi”). Historically, an armilo would include armor as well as weapons, but since armor went by the wayside for a long time after the introduction of firearms, “arms”, “to arm”, etc., came to refer to just weapons.

Tibake til toppen