Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2021 November 14

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November 14

Latin transation

I want to have a special plaque made for our school secretary and I am hoping to have it engraved with her name and then below "If she can't fix it, then no one can" or something similar. I have a reference question (talk) 02:40, 14 November 2021 (UTC)

An attempt: Si aliquid illa reficere non potest, nemo potest.  --Lambiam 11:35, 14 November 2021 (UTC)

To simplify, one could drop aliquid without really losing meaning, possibly also reficire. --T*U (talk) 14:01, 14 November 2021 (UTC)

If you drop reficĕre, the meaning broadens to "If she can't do it, no one can", which would include performing such feats as long-jumping 20 feet. The word "it" in the English version has no referent, making the statement slightly ambiguous: the word might refer to some specific problem, known to the intended audience. The same ambiguity exists in Latin if aliquid is dropped.  --Lambiam 15:37, 14 November 2021 (UTC)

Also if you're going to keep aliquid, remember to drop the ali- part. "After si, nisi, num, and ne, all the alis drop away!" Adam Bishop (talk) 23:58, 16 November 2021 (UTC)

Questions of this sort frequently come up, and get a variety of suggestions, on Latin Stack Exchange, I have a reference question. --ColinFine (talk) 13:39, 14 November 2021 (UTC)

Thanks everyone! I have a reference question (talk) 18:32, 14 November 2021 (UTC)