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THFC: Daring to Achieve

30 second read
by The Fighting Cock
By ZoC I don’t want to come across as an old-fashioned, linguistic pedant but if I do, then frankly, I’m not bothered. Noel Gallagher made derogatory comments recently on television about the Spurs motto “To dare is to do”, as reported on a Fighting Cock forum thread by ArtyB. “It doesn’t make sense. You can […]

By ZoC

I don’t want to come across as an old-fashioned, linguistic pedant but if I do, then frankly, I’m not bothered.

Noel Gallagher made derogatory comments recently on television about the Spurs motto “To dare is to do”, as reported on a Fighting Cock forum thread by ArtyB.

“It doesn’t make sense. You can do stuff without being daring,” said Gallagher. Clearly, as a City fan, he is concerned about the serious title threat Spurs are now posing and saw an opportunity to have a dig. However, Gallagher did have a point and it got me thinking about “To dare is to do”.

The original Spurs battle cry in Latin, as any Spurs fan who knows their history will attest is “Audere est facere”. Now “facere” is the root word for the French “faire”, which we all know from our O Level days, is translatable as “to do/to make”. This demonstrates that the word “facere” is imbued with a far broader, far more noble meaning than simply the one-dimensional “to do” – do the dishes, do the shopping, do the washing….

“Facere”, in this context, is perhaps more properly translated as “to achieve”, ie. simply the act of daring is an achievement in itself.

In my view “To dare is to do” is a wholly inadequate way to translate “Audere est facere”. The person who did so for marketing purposes, on the basis that fans are too ignorant to appreciate Latin, should be reprimanded.

I’m willing to “do” anyone who “dares” disagree.

In my view, a far more appropriate translation of our original battle cry – something the fighting cock has managed to encapsulate in just a few short months – is this:

DARING TO ACHIEVE

(This article has been translated from the original X-rated Latin version, available on the Fighting Cock Forum)

All views and opinions expressed in this article are the views and opinions of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of The Fighting Cock. We offer a platform for fans to commit their views to text and voice their thoughts. Football is a passionate game and as long as the views stay within the parameters of what is acceptable, we encourage people to write, get involved and share their thoughts on the mighty Tottenham Hotspur.

6 Comments

  1. Spurs4Life
    09/01/2012 @ 6:23 pm

    I was told that ‘Audere Est Facere’ translates into english as ‘Boldness Is To Work Zealously’ ?

    I didn’t do Latin at school, so had to take my mates word for it.

    Anyways, nice one for the PodCasts.

  2. Wobbly_Desk
    09/01/2012 @ 7:57 pm

    I saw Noel on Soccer AM. I’ve always admired the guy’s ability to poke fun at people/things, and took his remarks with a pinch of salt, as i could see that his tongue was firmly jammed in his cheek.

    However, i don’t really see his point. Forgive me, if i’m missing it.

    Noel says that ‘To Dare Is To Do’ doesn’t make sense because not everything that you do is daring. But our motto doesn’t say ‘To Do Is To Dare’.

    If his argument was that ‘To Dare Is To Do’ is a shit motto because it doesn’t really mean ‘anything’, then i could see his point. I also agree that a better translation would be Daring To Achieve.

    However, within the context that it’s set, and assuming that whoever’s reading it has an ounce of common sense, then ‘To Dare Is To Do’ makes perfect sense.

    For example, slogans such as ‘Just Do It’ and ‘No Fear’ don’t mean much, but as slogans for sportwear and extreme sports kit it works.

    ‘To Dare Is To Do’ to me has always meant, throwing caution to the wind to achieve something special. Whether it’s coming back from 3-1 down to draw 4-4 at the Emirates, or throwing Woodgate forward to win the CC Final in 08, that’s what it personifies within its context. I also always think of Del Boy saying ‘He who dares wins, Rodney’….. maybe we could change it to that?!

    And besides, Noel hasn’t really got room to speak. A lot of his lyrics don’t make sense. Wonderwall isn’t even a real word, it’s some sort of mumbo jumbo love shit that he turned into a good tune. ‘Shakermaker’ anyone?

  3. Cam
    10/01/2012 @ 12:19 am

    It cannot be ‘daring to achieve’, because that displays even greater ignorance of the Latin, in that you completely ignore the tense of the words, and drop the ‘est’.

    Let Noel try and unnerve a team by putting up a shocking argument against their motto. No one cares.

    If you want to use ‘achieve’ instead of ‘do’ (despite meaning almost identical things) fine, but remember that these are imperfect, infinitive 2nd conjugation. So it needs to be ‘To Dare and to Achieve’. Drop the ‘to’-‘s and it becomes ‘Dare and Achieve’. That’s about as good as it will get.

  4. zoc
    10/01/2012 @ 9:45 am

    @cam … “these are imperfect, infinitive 2nd conjugation.”

    sorry, latin wasn’t on the syllabus in my comprehensive in tottenham.

  5. Wobbly_Desk
    10/01/2012 @ 10:49 am

    ‘Dare and Achieve’ – oooh, i like that. COYS!

  6. AuburnSpur
    15/01/2012 @ 11:14 pm

    The translation is fine, it’s his understanding/comprehension that needs improvement. Think of it in the negative: “To NOT dare, is to NOT do.” In other words, if you aren’t acting daringly, you aren’t “doing.” We don’t want Spurs to simply do, but to do with daring.

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