Latin Translation For Tattoo!

naholland · 10-01-2008, 02:59 AM

Hi, I'm getting a tattoo in a few days and I want to make sure it's correct.
I'm getting "Be patient and tough; some day this pain will be useful to you" in Latin on my chest.

Is this how you say it in Latin?

"perfer et obdura; dolor hic tibi proderit olim"?

And how do you say it?

Thank you so much!

Cloelia · 10-02-2008, 12:02 AM

That's the way Ovid said it so sure it's well said. It's a quote from the beginning of ELEGY XI "WEARY AT LENGTH OF HIS MISTRESS' INFIDELITIES, HE SWEARS THAT HE WILL LOVE HER NO LONGER".
You can read that elegy here in English and in Latin:
The Love Books of Ovid: Elegy XI: Weary At Length Of His Mistress' Infidelities, He Swears That He Will Love Her No Longer.

The translation is rather free on that page but here are the words translated literally: Perfer= Endure (it), et = and, obdura = be tough / persist. (Those verbs are imperatives, i.e. commands.) Dolor hic = this pain, proderit (future tense of prosum)=will be useful, tibi= for you, olim = some day.

10-01-2008, 02:59 AM	#1 (permalink)
naholland Brand New Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 1 naholland is an unknown character at this point	Latin Translation For Tattoo! Hi, I'm getting a tattoo in a few days and I want to make sure it's correct. I'm getting "Be patient and tough; some day this pain will be useful to you" in Latin on my chest. Is this how you say it in Latin? "perfer et obdura; dolor hic tibi proderit olim"? And how do you say it? Thank you so much!
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10-02-2008, 12:02 AM	#2 (permalink)
Cloelia International Forum Great Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 1,105 Cloelia is just really nice Cloelia is just really nice	That's the way Ovid said it so sure it's well said. It's a quote from the beginning of ELEGY XI "WEARY AT LENGTH OF HIS MISTRESS' INFIDELITIES, HE SWEARS THAT HE WILL LOVE HER NO LONGER". You can read that elegy here in English and in Latin: The Love Books of Ovid: Elegy XI: Weary At Length Of His Mistress' Infidelities, He Swears That He Will Love Her No Longer. The translation is rather free on that page but here are the words translated literally: Perfer= Endure (it), et = and, obdura = be tough / persist. (Those verbs are imperatives, i.e. commands.) Dolor hic = this pain, proderit (future tense of prosum)=will be useful, tibi= for you, olim = some day. Last edited by Cloelia; 10-02-2008 at 02:26 AM.
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