repeated, but an important thread
Send me more languages and more suggestions and I will add them.
Latin — Aut dulcia aut dolum
Modern Greek: φάρσα ή κέρασμα
Ancient Greek: δόλος ἢ μισθός (see below for citation)
I prefer: δόλος ἢ δῶρον (but will take some suggestion for candy or sweet)
But what I really like is δόλος ἢ ξείνιον because I think Odysseus is the original trick(ster)-treater.
Odyssey 9.174-76
‘After I arrive, I will test these men, whoever they are,
Whether they are arrogant and wild, unjust men
Or kind to guests with a godfearing mind.”
ἐλθὼν τῶνδ’ ἀνδρῶν πειρήσομαι, οἵ τινές εἰσιν,
ἤ ῥ’ οἵ γ’ ὑβρισταί τε καὶ ἄγριοι οὐδὲ δίκαιοι,
ἦε φιλόξεινοι, καί σφιν νόος ἐστὶ θεουδής.’
9.229: “So that I might see him and whether he will give me guest gifts”
ὄφρ’ αὐτόν τε ἴδοιμι, καὶ εἴ μοι ξείνια δοίη.
9.406 “Really, is no one killing you by trick or by force?
ἦ μή τίς σ’ αὐτὸν κτείνει δόλῳ ἠὲ βίηφι;’
9.408 “Friends, No one is killing me with trick or force.”
‘ὦ φίλοι, Οὖτίς με κτείνει δόλῳ οὐδὲ βίηφιν.’
14.330 “absent already for a while, either openly or secretly”
ἤδη δὴν ἀπεών, ἢ ἀμφαδὸν ἦε κρυφηδόν.
cf. Dutch “treats or your life”
Dutch: 'Je snoep of je leven'
Your sweets or you life!
I could make something up in Serbian but Halloween isn't a thing for us :p— Холанђанин? (@randomserb) October 26, 2017
There is this too:
Last year @sentantiq asked how we translate trick or treat in AncG. @ArmandDAngour mentioned PMG 848.12-13 πότερ' ἀπίωμες ἢ λαβώμεθα; | εἰ μέν τι δώσεις· εἰ δὲ μή, οὐκ ἐάσομες. #Halloween #AncientGreekFolklore #GreekFolkSongs
— Dr. Maria Xanthou FHEA (@MariaGXanthou) October 29, 2018
Also:
There is a classical Greek equivalent, PMG 848.12 f. (from Athenaeus 8.360b) εἰ μέν τι δώσεις, εἰ δὲ μή, οὐκ ἐάσομες…give a treat or else!
— Armand D'Angour (@ArmandDAngour) October 27, 2017
Or, as a young Mycenaean scribe may have written it: do-ro e mi-to = δόλος ἢ μισθός. pic.twitter.com/ZvxQBDHass
— Theo Nash (@theo_nash) October 26, 2017
Serious question: How do you say "Trick or Treat" in #Latin and #Greek?#Halloween #TrickOrTreat #Classics
— sententiae antiquae (@sentantiq) October 24, 2017
Didn’t find any classic Greek, but modern Greek seems to be «φάρσα ή κέρασμα» according to WP.
— Magnus Lewan (@nmlewan) October 24, 2017
A few relevant #words on giving and drinking. 🍷🎁🍷 pic.twitter.com/OTWzNVCDda
— Giovanni Lido (@Giovanni_Lido) October 24, 2017
WP: Usque ad hunc diem, bellariorum petitores clamitant: Trick or treat! 'Aut dulcia aut dolum!' (pro trick, confer vocem Latinam tricae).
— Magnus Lewan (@nmlewan) October 24, 2017
https://twitter.com/Nanocyborgasm/status/922826477346926592
Deliciae aut delictum. (?)
— Stephen Coombs (@stephanuscoombs) October 24, 2017
ἀνδροβρῶτος vs. ανθρωπόφαγος
— didaclopez (@didaclopez) October 24, 2017
Facebook: How do you say trick or trick in Latin?
Euthyphro: How DO you say “trick or treat” in Latin?
Socrates: I’ve sometimes used “Aut dulcia aut dolum!”
Sententiae Antiquae Working on it…
Ion: ‘Dolus donumve’ or indeed ‘dolus nisi donum’
Thrasymachus: While I like the alliteration, I don’t think *donum* works here.
As a “trick”—in this sense—isn’t really a deceit (more like a joke), and as the “treat” is something trifling (not a *gift*, which carries a sense of formality), I am wondering on something like “nugas nucesve,” “jests or nuts.”
While nuces were strewn at wedding and festivals (I’m thinking of the throwing of small bits of candy at bar mitzvahs, etc.), they were also children’s playthings, which captures, I think the idea of “treat,” as something given informally, even anonymously, and without expectation of return
You need the accusative, not the nominative.
Cratylus: Dulcia aut ludos?
