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Fri 11 Mar, 2005 10:03 pm
This is a motto in Chinese (博通专一)for a new school to be founded in Fuzhou, which means students are encouraged to be good at all subjects of study, but must be best in one field.
An English version is suggested: Good in All, but Best in One.
I'd like some help me translate this into Latin, so that the Latin version will sound better, more learned to people who do not know Latin.
Many thanks
Fan Shouyi, Beijing
What's the sense of the Chinese? Is it like a command (you should be good at...) or a jussive (may you be good at, we hope that you will be good at) or just a description of the students (all our students are good at...) or something else altogether? The English you gave generally means the last, but it's a little vague too.
Why you want to be learned in this way, fansy?
Just want to show off?
No, sorry I won't agree with this motivation.
Is there another reason for translating anything into Latin, though? Homestly, now. Or maybe all of those people are getting Latin tattoos because they want to make sure that they can be read in case they get sent back in time to ancient Rome.
A new school campus is to be set up in Fuzhou, the Chinese name of which is called "博一学院" (Bo Yi College); "博一" is the short form for the phrase"博通专一", which means students should be trained to be good at all subjects of study, but must be very good in one field, in other words graduates from this school are expected to be generalists (in many fields) and specialists (in one field). "博通专一"is chosen as the motto of this college.
I was asked by our vice president to think of an English version for this, and so I came up with "Be good in all, but best in one." The idea is there, but he said it appeared to be very plain English, and it does not read like a motto. So I suggested why not turn this English version into Latin, in the way "Citius, Altius, Fortius" were chosen for the Olympic motto, which means "faster, higher, stronger", equally very plain English.
I was trying to be humorous when I said "
sounds learned to people who do not know Latin." I did not mean to show off...
So if you can and will help me, well and good.
Thanks
Fansy
I would render it:
Bonus in omnibus, optimus in uno.
George,
Was it you who gave me this version? I appreciate your help very much.
However, I have one question, i.e. is the "in" used in the Latin version the same as the "in" used in an English sentence?
When the Latin in is used with the ablative, it means "in".
When it is used with the accusative, it means "into."
There are also various other ways in could be translated
depending on the context. For example:
in illo tempore
at that time
in oculis
before one's eyes
George,
Thanks a lot for you expertise and patience.
Good luck
Fan
You're welcome, fansy; and much success to Bo Yi College!