de gustibus non disputandum est

Cagey

post mod (English Only / Latin)

I think you are going to need to revise this a little. As your saying is now worded, you are contrasting "tastes (inclusively)" with "bad tastes". It's strange in Latin. I suggest:

There is no dispute about good taste, but about bad [taste].

De gustibus elegantibus non est disputendum, sed de malis.

(elegans means refined and is used where we would say "good taste": I avoided bonis = good, because its meanings are not suitable.)

There is no dispute about every taste, but about bad ones [alone].

De omne gustu non est disputendum, sed de malis [solis].

It's probably also a bit weird in English. It sure is in my native tongue . But the point is indeed to contrast the incredible cliché of "tastes cannot be discussed' (thanks Fred_C) with the idea that they can be discussed, which kind of undermines the cliché.

Indeed.

I think the point of the original Latin saying (which also exists in many other languages) is that in subjective matters there can be no universal truths.

One might retort that that is precisely why subjective matters can and should be discussed. If you can't argue with facts, you certainly can argue with opinions.

With this in mind, how about starting from the Latin equivalent of "You can't argue with facts", and deriving from it an equivalent for "You can always argue with tastes/ in matters of taste"?

P.S. Or the equivalent of "Taste/tastes are always subject to debate / up for discussion".

Last edited: Feb 27, 2009

Hi,

I do not know any good translation of this phrase, so I attempted to give the same idea using different words

De rebus quae gratiores sint vel molestiores nihil est disputandum, sed disputare potest de sententiis res squalidas esse gratas affirmantibus

One should not discuss about which things are more pleasant or unpleasant, but one can discuss about opinions stating that disgusting thigs are agreable.

I'd like to expand this phrase with 'But in matters of bad taste, there is', but I have no idea how to render the contrast in Latin.

My guess so far:
De gustibus non est disputandum. Sed (?) de gustibus malis(?) est

It's a good guess, but the expansion won't work because the literal translation reads:
"Concerning tastes, it must not be disputed. But concerning bad tastes it is/there is." (est disputandum functions as a unit, a passive periphrastic denoting necessity)

My suggestion:

De gustibus non est disputandum. De gustibus malis, res alia (est).
In matters of taste there must be no dispute. Concerning bad tastes, it's another matter.