Re: The Ladder, The Rung, and the Crowley


"Ronald Raygun" <no.spam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:HvVAf.6172$wl.3904@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Stephen Glynn wrote:
>
>> Ronald Raygun wrote:
>>> Crowley wrote:
>>>>
>>>>per ardua ad astra eh ?
>>>
>>> Peasant. It's aspera.
>>
>> Eh? 'Per ardua ad astra' ('Through hard work to the stars') was
>> apparently the motto of my late wife's school. The RAF seem to use it
>> as well. Google suggests that 'ad astra per aspera' ('To the stars
>> through difficulties') is the state motto of Kansas, though I've a
>> feeling we're not in Kansas anymore.
>
> "Hard work" is a marginal translation of ardua, "difficulties"
> lies closer to ardua than it does to aspera, which is more like
> "unpleasantnesses". That said, the two words are relatively
> synonymous in this context. The motto, in either form, just means
> that if you want to get to the top, don't expect an easy ride.
>
> I maintain that my version is the more proper one, though, and in this
> I am supported by the net's answer to mob rule, namely (since you brought
> it up) Google:
>
> 'per ardua ad astra' scores only about 39.2k hits, whereas
> 'per aspera ad astra' scores 208k.
> 'ad astra per aspera' scores 104k, and
> 'ad astra per ardua' shows only 402 (no k).
>
> Looks like "aspera" has it by a comfortable margin.
>
I think he is still due an apology for your 'peasant' comment , and I also
hear some RAF pilots may be using your abode for bomb aiming practice.

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Tumbleweed

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