Expert: Maria - 9/22/2004

Question
Maria:  I am a judge in Toronto, Canada.  I am writing a satirical article about how lawyers should not present their arguments in court. One of the things I would like to deal with is the use of Latin in court proceedings. For that purpose, I would like a translation into Latin of this English sentence:  "My dog is smarter than the three of you put together".  I would be very grateful for your help.  Many thanks.  

Answer
Hello,

The English sentence “My dog is smarter than the three of you put together" can be translated into Latin as follows:

-“Sagacior est  canis meus quam tres ex vobis etsi coniuncti ».

Also, in a different word order:

-"Canis meus est sagacior quam tres ex vobis etsi coniuncti".

Please note that :
My = MEUS
dog = CANIS
is = EST
smarter = SAGACIOR
than = QUAM
the three = TRES
of you = EX VOBIS
put together = ETSI CONIUNCTI. [Literally CONIUNCTI is ‘put together'. As for ETSI is a conjunction  we need in this case to emphasize ‘put together'].

Hope all is clear enough.
Feel free however to ask me again.

Greetings from Italy.
Maria