# That's Life



## 888Author

When a person is experiencing a hardship, or a downturn on their luck, they would normally say something like - "That's Life", or "Such is Life." How do you say that in *Latin*?

Thank you.


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## Scholiast

Greetings

One could say, quite literally, _talis est vita humana_, or _talis est vita nostra_.

With slightly more extravagant literary finesse, why not quote Virgil?

_sunt lacrimae rerum_, or _mentem mortalia tangunt_; or indeed quote the whole hexameter line from which these come:

_sunt lacrimae rerum, et mentem mortalia tangunt_.

But this might be considered a bit too grave for the contexts in which (in my experience) "That's life" is usually used in colloquial and idiomatic English. What is the level of tone that you are looking for?

Σ


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## 888Author

Scholiast said:


> Greetings
> 
> One could say, quite literally, _talis est vita humana_, or _talis est vita nostra_.
> 
> With slightly more extravagant literary finesse, why not quote Virgil?
> 
> _sunt lacrimae rerum_, or _mentem mortalia tangunt_; or indeed quote the whole hexameter line from which these come:
> 
> _sunt lacrimae rerum, et mentem mortalia tangunt_.
> 
> But this might be considered a bit too grave for the contexts in which (in my experience) "That's life" is usually used in colloquial and idiomatic English. What is the level of tone that you are looking for?
> 
> Σ



I hope the following illustration helps:

A man is offering sympathy to an older friend (who is a philosophy professor) on the death of his wife. The professor is trying to sound upbeat as he responds. He says "Such is Life," or "That's Life" in Latin.


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## ablativ

Sic transit vita nostra? (In the style of: Sic transit gloria mundi)


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## 888Author

ablativ said:


> Sic transit vita nostra? (In the style of: Sic transit gloria mundi)



I don't quite understand... is the translation* - Sic transit vita nostra *or *Sic transit gloria mundi*?


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## ablativ

888Author said:


> I don't quite understand... is the translation* - Sic transit vita nostra *or *Sic transit gloria mundi*?



'sic transit vita nostra' is my attempt to translate "such is life" in the given context (death of someone's wife).

'sic transit gloria mundi' is a historic and famous saying. I just took over the style of that saying in my translation. OK?


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## Scholiast

Greetings once more

I now assume this is a fictitious context.

The world-weary ανδ self-deprecatory Prof. would confine himself to "talis est vita".

Σ


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## 888Author

Scholiast said:


> Greetings once more
> 
> I now assume this is a fictitious context.
> 
> The world-weary ανδ self-deprecatory Prof. would confine himself to "talis est vita".
> 
> Σ



Hi there,
Thank you for responding again. Yes, the context is fictitious. Is "talis est vita" the most direct translation for 'such is life?' I'd also gotten another term "Sic Vivitur" by someone else. Is that also another way of saying 'such in life?' Thanks again...


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## Scholiast

Greetings once again.

_sic vivitur_ is indeed idiomatic Latin. But in the context of a recent bereavement, this would have to be hugely sardonic on the part of the widowed professor, as it means, literally, "thus it is lived".

Now if your character is generally given to cynical or sarcastic throwaway remarks, it could have fine point. But you must be the judge of that. My original impression was that you were looking for a phrase apt for a man more world-weary than bitter.

In that case, _talis est vita_ would have a faintly, but in the context perhaps not inappropriately, pathetic ring to it: he'd be mouthing almost ritualistically a fragment of language, without precise focus on what the words actually mean. This would make him credibly human and fallible.

Σ


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## 888Author

Scholiast said:


> Greetings once again.
> 
> _sic vivitur_ is indeed idiomatic Latin. But in the context of a recent bereavement, this would have to be hugely sardonic on the part of the widowed professor, as it means, literally, "thus it is lived".
> 
> Now if your character is generally given to cynical or sarcastic throwaway remarks, it could have fine point. But you must be the judge of that. My original impression was that you were looking for a phrase apt for a man more world-weary than bitter.
> 
> In that case, _talis est vita_ would have a faintly, but in the context perhaps not inappropriately, pathetic ring to it: he'd be mouthing almost ritualistically a fragment of language, without precise focus on what the words actually mean. This would make him credibly human and fallible.
> 
> Σ


I am picturing an emotional individual... this person lost his wife six years ago and has a personal shrine set up in her memory in a small room in his house. Both characters are in this special room as the dialogue takes place. Is _talis est vita _still the correct phrase in this context?


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## Scholiast

Greetings once more.

Thank you for the further contextual explanation.

In that case, _talis est vita_ [_nostra_] would betray a certain wry (and suitably 'professorial') melancholy, particularly as _nostra_ would both generalise (to the mortal human condition) and personalise ('such is _my _/ _our_ life'], embracing in thought the idea that in some sense, his late wife still 'lives' with him.

Σ


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## 888Author

I thank you all for your kind assistance!!


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## autrex2811

888Author said:


> I don't quite understand... is the translation* - Sic transit vita nostra *or *Sic transit gloria mundi*?



Eso sí lo entiendo, que la gloria del mundo así se pasa.


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## RaeChan

'haec est rerum humanarum condicio' (such is the way of the world) or 'sic vita hominum est' (such is life) 
- from C. Meissner's Latin Phrasebook, which is pretty good.


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