| On "We have me the enemy and they are us," the first thing to note is that
much of its effect originally depended on its echo of Oliver Hazard Perry's report on the Battle of Lake Erie (War of 1812=the Napoleonic War in America): "We have met the enemy and they are ours" with it movement in time, its achievement sense and the surprise of it all (Perry's home-made boats were not tested, but were in fact perfect for the lakes, while the Brits used modified ocean craft). That is a lot of freight for "and" to bear, but it does it nicely the first time (with seemly litotes), so Pogo plays off of it well. It won't work in Lojban with the same economy and spelling it all out loses the punch. Some things just don't translate. The nearest Lojban might come is "We have met the enemy and discovered that they are us" which conveys the sense but lacks the snap. |