Originally posted by Slay
''I am yet to find the first truth in the OTF'' actually. I think. Not tthat I studied latin or anything...And that wasn't sarcasm, I really didn't. herbeyes
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendamThis is quite an impressive statement. To understand why, we have to look at Latin pronunciation. In the Latin of those days, every c is pronounced as a k. So, if you pronounce the quote, it sounds like a raven choking on it's own bile, especially if a man like Cato, known for his harsh voice, pronounced them.
But, what does it mean? Most of the translations you see are inaccurate, not respecting the rather convoluted grammatical structure. Let's start with the first word, ceterum. Here, it's used as an adverb, and means something along the lines of "for the rest", "moreover", or "what's more". Next, we see censeo. This is simply the first person singularis activum indicativus praesens of the verb censere, meaning "being of the opinion" or "thinking". In brief, it means "I think". Carthaginem is Carthage, and it being an accusativus is a sign it's the object of the sentence. Now, we come to the "esse delendam". This is the gerundivum of delere, to destroy, and means "has to be destroyed" 4-6. Puzzling the whole mess together, we arrive at:
For the rest, it is my opinion that Carthage has to be destroyed