# They tried to destroy us as human beings.



## seitt

Greetings

How can I translate the following sentence?
“They tried to destroy us as human beings by turning us into a nation of informers.”

Children caught speaking Welsh at school were forced to wear a piece of wood round their necks; they would be whipped at the end of the school day unless they caught somebody else speaking Welsh and passed the Welsh Not onto him/her.
Ref. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welsh_Not

Best wishes, and many thanks,

Simon


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## velisarius

Προσπάθησαν να μας καταστρέψουν, να μας αφαιρέσουν την ανθρωπιά μας, αναγκάζοντάς μας σαν έθνος να γίνουμε όλοι προδότες,.


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## Andrious

"Πληροφοριοδότες" is another option for "informers".


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## velisarius

Andrious said:


> "Πληροφοριοδότες" is another option for "informers".



Probably the best option for "informers".  Sorry, I've no idea why I wrote "προδότες" by mistake.


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## Αγγελος

καταδότες is even better.  χαφιέδες or even ρουφιάνοι are more forceful, but the last word might be considered vulgar, as it originally meant 'pimps'


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## seitt

Many thanks, super!

Re the first bit (They tried to destroy us as human beings), would it be correct (if not, perhaps, very good style) to say “Προσπάθησαν να μας καταστρέψουν σαν ανθρώπους”?


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## Αγγελος

Yes. Some purists would prefer "ως ανθρώπους῾ arguing that "σαν" should only be used for "like", whereas here the intended meaning is 'in our capacity as human beings". But "να μας καταστρέψουν την ανθρωπιά μας, να μας κάνουν λαό χαφιέδων" is more explicit -- an informer is still a human being! -- and more forceful.


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## seitt

Much obliged for that too!


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