Latin in everyday life

Quid Pro Quo - I have been hearing this one a lot within the last year on the news surrounding the Presidential impeachment trial. The context of this is how Democrats think that Donald Trump made a Quid Pro Quo deal with the Ukrainian PM. The Latin influence on this phrase is very easy to spot, the phrase itself has not changed from it’s Latin roots of meaning “this for that”, representing a barter of sorts. The origins of this phrase in the modern era begin in the 1500s referring to the substitution of one medicine for another, and it undoubtedly had other use cases within actual Roman Culture.

Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc - This was a phrase that I heard last month on the TV show The West Wing and immediately knew it was latin. The phrase was used in the context of President Bartlet describing a series of events that transpired and caused each other. The latin influence of this is as apparent as the first in that it hasn’t changed from the original Latin it originated from. The origins of this phrase are mostly the way in which Romans told each other “x happened after y, therefore y caused x to happen.”

Imitatio Dei - This was a phrase that I heard about a month ago in World Religions class meaning To be like God. The Latin influence on this word was first, Dei, meaning god. Second, Imitatio is a latin word that means to copy or imitate. The origins of this phrase are mostly from the other similar sounding phrase imago Dei and was most likely created out of it. It mostly started to appear in the Greek version of the Hebrew Bible.

Deification - This word was thrown out by Dr. Blue about a month ago going along with Imitiatio Dei, this word however means the act of becoming a God. The latin influence of this word comes from the vocabulary word Dei, meaning God, and when you attach the “fication”, it becomes the act of changing into whatever the prefix is. The origins of this is from the Latin word Dei meaning God and was a very present phrase in Latin culture.

Eucharist - This word was also told to me by Dr. Blue in World Religions last week when we were talking about Christianity. While this specific word doesn’t have any direct connection back to the Latin like the other ones, it does originate from the Greek word Eucharistia meaning “to give thanks” 

This phrase was coined by Ignatius of Antioch in the late 1st century, referring to the last supper that Jesus had.

Latin is a truly incredible language to learn in the modern day, both for vocabulary and the origins of a good part of the world. It is also helped me in English, especially in 8th grade when I had learned the roots of some words that could have been derived from Latin. I believe that all people should have exposure to latin to guide them throughout their language journey.

Matthew Wiggans

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quid_pro_quo

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post_hoc_ergo_propter_hoc

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imitation_of_God#External_links

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eucharist