Expert: Maria - 8/11/2010

Question
Dear Maria,

I'm looking for a Latin translation for 'NEVER GIVE UP'.  I tried to look for it in the internet, and from wikipedia, it says that the translation is 'NIL DESPERANDUM'.  However, from other website, I found that the answer is 'NUMQUAM CEDE'.  So, I'm just wondering, which one is more correct for translating 'NEVER GIVE UP'.

Thanks in advance.


Regards
Eric

Answer
Hello,

Actually NIL DESPERANDUM which is a quotation from Horace’s Odes, book 1, poem 7, line 27, means  literally “Nothing must be despaired“,i.e.“Do not despair”, while NUMQUAM CEDE that is an adaptation of ”Tu ne cede“(“Do not give up”) a Virgil’s line we read in the  Aeneid, book VI, line 95, means exactly “Never give up”.

In short, you must say NUMQUAM CEDE, if you really mean “Never give up”, as NIL DESPERANDUM means “Do not despair”.

Best regards,
Maria
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Note that:

-Never = NUMQUAM

-give up = CEDE  (Imperative, 2nd.person singular of CEDO, I give up)  
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-NIL = nothing

-DESPERANDUM (passive periphrastic of DESPERO, I despair)= must be despaired