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Translation help

de ludomastro, 30 aprilie 2014

Contribuții/Mesaje: 8

Limbă: English

ludomastro (Arată profil) 30 aprilie 2014, 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 (Arată profil) 30 aprilie 2014, 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 (Arată profil) 30 aprilie 2014, 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 (Arată profil) 30 aprilie 2014, 16:35:39

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

sudanglo (Arată profil) 30 aprilie 2014, 19:09:07

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

morfran (Arată profil) 30 aprilie 2014, 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 (Arată profil) 1 mai 2014, 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 (Arată profil) 1 mai 2014, 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.

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