English to Latin Translation, please...

[Mark A. Siefert]

Could someone please tranlate the phrase "Fortress America" into Latin?

[SteveW]

Arx Americus

[Chaos]

First, it´s "Americanus"

Second, I´d prefer "Oppidum Americanum".

Arx is a "stand-alone" castle, Castra (Americana, then) is, originally, a fortified military camp, and Oppidum is a walled and fortified city. Pick which one fits your idea of Fortress America best.

[bruto]

I would have thought that "Fortress America" implies "America the fortress" rather than an American fortress, so you wouldn't want "americanus" or "Americus," but something more like "America ille [pick your fortress word]"

[Skeptic]

Shouldn't that be, "America quae oppidum est"--"America, like a fortress is" (it's not MY fault Latin has this Yoda-like sentence structure...)?

[Chaos]

How about "America munita", then? "Fortified America".

[Lord Muck oGentry]

What about Turris fortis orbi terrarum America? Roughly, ' America is a fortified tower to the whole world.'
It echoes Turris fortis mihi Deus/fides. But it carries the implication IMO that the tower is a place of refuge rather than a forbidden place. If the latter is what is wanted, it won't do.

[hgc]

I would have thought that "Fortress America" implies "America the fortress" rather than an American fortress, so you wouldn't want "americanus" or "Americus," but something more like "America ille [pick your fortress word]""Fortress" is being used as a metaphor in English in this case, so it makes sense that the Latin translation would do the same.

[gumboot]

I begin to see why latin doesn't make for catchy slogans... :p

-Andrew

[Jonathan Hamilton]

I suggest arx America (or Arx America to suit). If you're invoking a metaphor of America as a fortress, then you want to explicitly define America as a fortress. That means America must stand on its own as a proper noun rather than being relegated to adjectivally modifying fortress as seen in arx Americanus ("the American fortress").

I recommend arx over oppidum for purely aesthetic reasons. Yes, oppidum is more appropriate functionally, but arx gives you great assonance and cadence.

If you want to go with more Classical, poetic Latin, I'd ascribe the fortress comparison to America as an epithet like Chaos was getting at. That would be especially appropriate for an epic poem, where America's epithets would be invoked on a regular basis for the sake of the bard's memory if nothing else.

[Lord Muck oGentry]

I suggest arx America (or Arx America to suit). If you're invoking a metaphor of America as a fortress, then you want to explicitly define America as a fortress. That means America must stand on its own as a proper noun rather than being relegated to adjectivally modifying fortress as seen in arx Americanus ("the American fortress").

I recommend arx over oppidum for purely aesthetic reasons. Yes, oppidum is more appropriate functionally, but arx gives you great assonance and cadence.

If you want to go with more Classical, poetic Latin, I'd ascribe the fortress comparison to America as an epithet like Chaos was getting at. That would be especially appropriate for an epic poem, where America's epithets would be invoked on a regular basis for the sake of the bard's memory if nothing else.


I like that!

Oh, and welcome...:)

[Chaos]

I begin to see why latin doesn't make for catchy slogans... :p

-Andrew


Oh yes it does.

Veni, vidi, vici! (I came, I saw, I triumphed)

[SPQR]

Same with, "Alea iacta est."(The die has been cast)

[gumboot]

Oh yes it does.

Veni, vidi, vici! (I came, I saw, I triumphed)


Sorry, I was being sarcastic... :) catchy mottos have been latin for a loooong time... :)

My favourite is

per adua ad astra (through struggles to the stars)
(RAF, RNZAF, RAAF, and probably some others too... (RCAF?))

And vici as "I conquered" has a better ring to it if you ask me - the duplicate of the "k" is more pleasing to the ear.

-Andrew

[Chaos]

IIRC it is "ardua" not "adua", and I have heard this one mostly as "ex aspera ad astra", anyway.