Quid Pro Quo, meaning “something for something else,” is the sexy Latin phrase of the moment, garnering much attention after its use in the current Presidential impeachment hearings. No one knows if it’s a noun or modifier, but an example of such phrase is when a President asks another nation’s leader for a favor and just conveniently fails to mail him a check for millions of dollars until such favor is completed.
In the 16th century, this phrase was used to mean someone got a drug from an apothecary that was not what the person expected. That is relevant today, as America elected what it believed to just be just a human being for President but instead it turned out to be a raging narcissist lunatic cyborb who shoots tweets instead of heroin.
“I’m not used to the fame, to be honest,” Quid Pro Quo said at a recent press junket. “I’m a quiet little phrase. Usually I’m just popular with the law professors.”
Carpe Diem, which means “seize the day,” was brought to fame when Robin Williams shouted it on top of a desk in the movie Dead Poets Society. He was recently interviewed asking if he has any advice for the newly-popular phrase that has skyrocketed to success.
“Well, I suppose I’d say to not worry. You may be a hit now. Sure, a few t-shirts, a phrase on a notebook, maybe on a sign held up by a nutty protestor. But soon you will be forgotten like the rest of us because Americans don’t really understand our dead language.”
Semper Fidelis, meaning “always faithful,” wore a somber expression and met with Quid Pro Quo for breakfast in Washington, D.C. last Thursday. He later commented to reporters that they had a “good discussion,” “he made me pay for breakfast in exchange for meeting with him,” and “I reminded him to put country first.”
Latin words are usually reserved for lawyers or academics, but in the recent landscape about how many crimes are being committed by our nation’s leader and his compatriots, it just sounds better to throw in random Latin phrases to beef things up a bit. For example, the list of individuals who are going to prison who are associated with the President include Roger Stone, Paul Manafort, Michael Cohen, et cetera, meaning “and the rest.”
“I really cannot comment on the current situation in Washington,” Quid Pro Quo said in a recent interview with CNN. “Unless you give me something in return.” He cannot help it. That’s literally what he was created for.
And there you have it. The status quo is going to continue into the near future of random Latin phrases creating a buzz in the polls due to political turmoil, with the exception of the phrase auribus teneo lupum, meaning “holding a wolf by the ears,” which has no relevant meaning but is truly how we all feel about now. Ah well, ad meliora. Onto better things.
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