OT: Latin (was boggart)

[rcraigharman at hotmail.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 18707

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Morag Traynor" <moragt at h...> wrote:
> <snip wonderful analysis of Expecto patronum and HP theme>
> Thanks for that!  So much more interesting than I thought expecto
> patronum  was - I should have known, from "Et expecto
> resurrectionem mortuorum..." from the Latin creed.

Personally, I think it's a bit overboard as analyses go.

"Exspectare" (the "s" was there classically) is not just "expect",
it's true--in fact, its breadth covers "to await", "to expect
something that is to come or to take place", "to be waiting for",
"to look for with hope, fear, desire, expectation", "to hope for,
long for, expect, desire"; "to fear, dread, anticipate, apprehend".
[Lewis & Short]

But it's probably too poetic to transform "expecto patronum" into
"I yearn for a father", unless we wish to believe that all "patronus"
spells cast are psychologically bound to such a yearning or lack.
I think that "protector", "defender", or "advocate" are all adequate
translations, that don't add more baggage than intended.

....Craig