I don’t trust Google Translate for obvious reasons, and I want to know how to correctly say “live life” (live as in “I live in a house”, not live as in “live music”), as well as “love life” in Latin. I plan on getting it tattooed on me, so I want it to be correct. The whole tattoo would say “live life, remember death,” or “love life, remember death”. I know the second part will be “memento mori,” but I want to make sure that the proper forms of both phrases are being used. Thanks!
1 Answer
Kudos for not trusting Google Translate!
"Live life" is actually pretty simple in Latin and is quite analogous to the English phrase. "Life" is the internal object of the English verb "to live". Analogously, vitam would be the internal object of the Latin verb vivere. So "live life" in Latin is quite simply vitam vivere.
As always, much more can be said about these simple things to make distinctions. "To live" is actually a multifaceted verb in English. You can live a life, you can live in a house, and you can live a certain lifestyle. These are three different meanings in one single verb. To translate these three different meanings into Latin, you'd best use three different verbs: vitam vivere (to live a life, or to not die), in domo habitare (to live in a house), or conversationem conversare (to live the lifestyle).
"Live life, remember death" would be Vitam vive, memento mori. "Love life, remember death" would be Vitam ama, memento mori.
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1In hoc enim fallimur, quod mortem prospicimus ...! 😉 Commented Nov 12, 2021 at 8:17