From VOA
Learning English, this is
Words and Their Stories. Today we continue
our discussion of common
Latin words and
expressions in American English.
common:
comunes, habituales;
This is not an
impromptu
discussion. We have been
planning it for weeks. In
contrast, impromptu
means you do
something without
preparing ahead of time.
impromptu: improvisado/a; planning: planificando (plan /
planned / planned / planning); for weeks: durante
semanas; in contrast: en cambio, por el contrario; means:
significa (mean / meant / meant / meaning); ahead
of time: con anticipación o antelación, con anterioridad, por adelantado;
Here’s
another example. Let’s
say you recently
graduated from college and
moved to New York
City for your
first job. Then
one day you
run into a group
of your college
friends in Times Square.
You and your
friends have an
impromptu
reunion.
You didn’t plan it. It
just happened.
let's say:
supongamos que; you recently graduated from college: hace poco te
graduaste en la universidad; moved to: te mudaste a; you run into:
te cruzas accidentalmente con (phrasal verb); impromptu reunion:
reunión improvisada;
You and your
friends are very happy to
see each other.
You talk about
what you are doing
now. But soon you
start telling
stories about the old
days at your
alma mater.
This doesn’t mean you are from the
same “nourishing
mother”, even though that
is the Latin meaning.
When we use
alma mater
it means school,
college, or university you
once attended.
to see
each other: de verse mutuamente; alma mater: organización madre
(universidad o instituto donde una persona estudió); nourishing mother:
madre de crianza; even though: aun cuando, aunque; you once attended:
a la que concurriste alguna vez;
Perhaps some of
your friends were
really good
students in college. They
graduated with
honors. “Laude” in Latin
means
praise.
When talking about
graduating from college or
university, laude is
often translated as
honor.
perhaps:
quizás; with honors: con honores; laude = praise: elogio,
felicitación;
Cum laude
means graduating
with honors,
magna cum laude
means graduating
with great honor and
summa cum laude means
graduating with
highest honors.
cum
laude: graduarse con honores; magna cum laude: graduarse con grandes
honores; summa cum laude: graduarse con los máximos honores; highest:
los más altos (grado superlativo = high / higher than / the highest);
Speaking of good
students, many people
who do well
on tests have good
memories. They are
able to listen to a lecture
and then repeat it
back verbatim,
or word-for-word. Others
can repeat poems
verbatim. They know
them by heart.
who do well
on tests: a quienes aprueban (les va bien) en los exámenes; good memories:
buenas memorias (impecable retención mental de datos o información); they are
able to = they can: ellos pueden; lecture: conferencia; repeat it
back: repetirla; verbatim: literalmente, al pie de la letra; word-for-word:
palabra por palabra; by heart: de memoria;
You can also
write down someone
else’s words verbatim. But in
some situations,
doing this can get
you in trouble. If
a student copies
someone else’s work
verbatim,
it’s called cheating.
write
down: transcribir (write down / wrote down / written down
/ writing downg); get you in trouble: meterte en problemas;
someone else's work: el trabajo de un tercero (otra persona); ir's called
cheating: eso se llama engaño (estafa, fraude);
In
fact, let’s say
two of your old
college friends – we’ll
call them Marco
and Amelia – were
once caught cheating on an
exam. The professor
asked them, “So,
was it Marco who
cheated off Amelia or
vice versa?”
in
fact: en realidad; were once caught cheating: se los descubrió
copiándose en una oportunidad; who cheated off: quien engañó a; vice
versa: a contrario, al revés;
Vice versa means
the reverse, or the other
way around.
the
reverse: lo contrario; the other way around: de la otra forma, al
revés;
When you and your
friends remember that
story, you might
say you were
not surprised. You
knew that Marco was in love
with Amelia and
vice versa. Since
Marco loved Amelia,
and Amelia loved
Marco, maybe that is why
they helped each
other cheat.
you
might say: bien podrían decir (que); surprised: sorprendidos;
since: puesto que, dado que; maybe: quizás; that is why: esa
es la razón por la cual; they helped each other cheat: se ayudaron
mutuamente para engañar;
If Marco and
Amelia were so
much in love that
they talked about
each other
ad nauseam,
they talked about
each other
non-stop. Ad nauseam is
when something or
someone goes on and on and on to the
point that others
feel sick. That’s the nauseam
part. If you
feel nauseated you
feel dizzy in your
head and sick to
your stomach.
were so much
in love: estaban tan enamorados; ad nauseam: hasta la saciedad, hasta
el cansancio (literal = hasta las náuseas); goes on and on: sigue y sigue;
to the point that: hasta el grado (punto) que; others feel sick: los
demás se sienten asqueados; feel nauseated: sentir náuseas; feel dizzy:
sentirse mareado/a;
Some would say
that is very similar to
how love feels. But
love is one of
those things that makes
life
extraordinary.
to how
love feels: a cómo uno siente el amor; makes life extraordinary: hace
que la vida sea diferente;
In the 1989
movie “Dead Poet’s
Society,” Robin Williams
plays a teacher at a
private school for
boys. He uses the Latin
phrase
carpe diem,
or “seize the day”, to
inspire his
students to make their
lives extraordinary.
Dead
Poet's Society: La Sociedad de los Poetas Muertos; plays a teacher:
desempeña el rol de un profesor; carpe diem = seize the day: disfruta del
día de hoy, aprovecha el momento (no lo malgastes);
"Gather
ye rosebuds while
ye may, old
time is still a’
flying, And this same flower that smiles today, tomorrow will be
dying."
"Coged
las rosas mientras podáis, veloz el tiempo vuela. Y esta misma flor que hoy
admiráis, mañana estará muriéndose".
"Thank
you, Mr. Pitts.
Gather ye rosebuds
while ye may.
The Latin term for that
sentiment is carpe
diem. Now, who
knows what that
means?"
the Latin term for that sentiment: el término latino (que expresa) ese
sentimiento;
"Carpe
diem. That’s ‘seize the
day."
"Very
good, Mister."
Today, I hope all
our readers and
listeners carpe diem! We
leave you with
a well-known song by the
rock band, U2. “Gloria”
means “glory” in
Latin and “In te domine”
means “In Thee, O
Lord.”
carpe diem:
disfruten del día de hoy (y no lo desaprovechen); well-known song: famosa
canción; in te domine: en ti, Señor;
Are
they singing about
religion or a beautiful
woman named Gloria?
U2 leaves it up to
you to decide. I’m
Anna Matteo.
U2 leaves it
up to you: (la banda de rock) U2 lo deja a tu libre interpretación;
Gloria (Glory) / In te
domine (In Thee, O Lord)
Gloria /
Exultate (rejoice)
exultate: regocíjate,
alégrate. |