MovieChat Forums > 2081 (2009) Discussion > Latin Message on DVD

Latin Message on DVD


On the DVD (actual disc) is the seal of the US Handicapper General and the Latin phrase "Minatur Infirmis Qui Parcit Fortibus".

What does this mean? I looked up each of the words online, and I think it is something like 'Minor sickness/infirmity brings/makes frugal strength.' Or 'Minor weakness makes a strong garden.' Or 'Economic strength from minor weakness.'

Is that right? What else could it be translated into?

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Roughly, it means:

Smaller weakness that allows strength (either physical, or courage)

Presumably it intends to convey that the flipside of positive traits (strength etc) is an abuse of their power (e.g. violence) i.e their weakness that necessarily follows from their existence, but that their weakness is smaller than their boon. So whilst it is true that beauty may allow for manipulation, it is also true that this threat is less salient than its existence. So to remove its weakness would be to commit a greater disservice than to allow it as its weakness is lesser than, and inextricably tied to, its strength.

It's odd that such a message would appear on the seal of the Handicapper, however. I suspect it's an out-of-place message the film's creator was attempting to present to the audience.

EDIT: No doubt someone will come and correct my Latin, it's far from perfect and it's quite tough to convey sentiments in Latin in such a way that they present only one meaning in modern English. I derived the meaning thus:

Minatur: Derived from/the comparative form of the adjective Parvus, meaning small
Infirmis: Alternate noun form of Infirmus, meaning weak
Qui: Masculine adjective meaning who, what, that or which
Parcit: This verb is troublesome, because it can refer to both leniency and moderation. It's entirely possible that the author meant to convey the message 'Smaller weakness that moderates strength', which would make more sense on the seal, but would be using the wrong meaning of the word 'moderate'. Parco means moderate in the sense we would say 'a moderate drinker' rather than 'a moderator'. A direct translation of 'moderate' could have accidentally yielded Parcit.
Fortibus: This appears to be a third declension (dative plural) of the word Forte, in which case it's meaning strength as a noun. As the dative case indicates the object of a verb, I decided upon the initial translation since this would make strength the object of leniency for which weakness is the subject.

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Correction (hopefully) for the Latin translation:

Minatur Infirmis Qui Parcit Fortibus

"He who spares the strong threatens the weak."

Minatur (from minor, minari, minatus sum) is 3rd person singular: He/she/it threatens

Infirmis (from infirmus -a -um) is Dative plural, in this case, the object of minatur: the weak ones

Qui is the relative pronoun. I've translated it as "he who" and moved the relative clause to the beginning.

Parcit (from parco, parcere, peperci, -sum) is also 3rd person singular: He/she/it spares, economizes, forgoes

Fortibus (from fortis -e) is Dative plural, in this case, the object of parcere: the strong ones.

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