A tongue-in-cheek lesson in Latin
…The true meaning of MAGA and more
Maga debitum accipiet. Sicut Sirenes Scyllae, Magae conspirant ut voluntatem suam in mundo, qualem norunt, exerceant. Sed de meo mundo nesciunt! Magiam validiorem habemus quae necessitates populi reflectit et quam nulla magia irritam reddere potest. Suffragia nobis solisque nobis pertinent, numquam a ministris magicis deceptionis et manipulationis psychologicae cooptanda aut contaminanda.[1]
[The Sorceress will receive her due. Like the Sirens of Scylla, the Sorceresses conspire to work their will on the world as they know it. But of my world they know not! We have stronger magic that reflects the needs of the people and that no spell can render moot. The ballot belongs to us and us alone, never to be co-opted or sullied by magical ministers of deception and psychological manipulation.]
Extrapolation: The ancient Romans had no trouble identifying a MAGA, i.e., a witch, and steering clear. Sorceress is a less pejorative way to describe someone with an exquisite talent for deception and casting spells. Limiting the meaning of MAGA to the feminine gender seems unfair to all the male MAGA acolytes. And again, Latin saves the day. Buried in the declension of magus, maga, magum, the feminine, masculine, and neuter genders, are the neuter plural nominative and vocative cases, both MAGA. So now we have a non-gendered Roman Empire definition of the witch/warlock that applies to more than one of them that even dictator Julius Caesar, who changed the Roman Republic into an empire, would approve.
A bonus! Wouldn’t you know, the role of the vocative case in a sentence implies that the MAGA are receiving verbal commands – so much like their behavior in the wannabe empire of today.
Languages
It is no accident that many posts here have included deep dives into English as well as a smattering of other tongues. My fascination with language dates to my ninth-grade Latin class under taskmaster teacher Mr. Nisius. Never knew his first name. We tackled the conjugations and declensions and a few classics. The phrase that still swims in my head from time to time is the grammatically incorrect reprise of a Julius Caesar quote, “Omnes Galia in tres partes divisa est.”[2] For me, a word or phrase in the language of another’s home is a new place to stand – a place from which I can see the same world through others’ eyes.
I suspect professional linguists experience that daily. I recommend the New York Times column of John McWhorter, where trips into language land make a rewarding read.
Coincidence? Of course it’s mere coincidence that the acronym MAGA happens also to be a word in the Latin dictionary and an even more prophetic coincidence that its meaning there is witch or sorceress. It is as if the fates have conspired to add meaning where none would normally exist. Well, perhaps not the fates, but the urge to come up with a contrivance that enters a debate from the inconspicuous side door rather than through a face-to-face contretemps with protagonists.
What does it mean, to Make America Great Again? It might as well be the Latin Americam Iterum Magnam Fac or the Swahili Fanya Amerika Kuwa Kubwa Tena. The implication in any language is that America is not great now. But the very crowd that cants this mantra beats its collective chest declaring the primacy of this not-yet-great country. Hypocrisy on steroids if you ask me.
Perhaps we should update that bad Latin grammar to “Omnes America in tres partes divisa est,” the left, the right, and the sensible middle.
No Caesar today: The Roman emperor was supposedly a great leader and decisive strategist. That is where analogies to today fall well short. Seeing the world through realistic eyes, understanding how other humans are wont to behave, and predicting outcomes of alternative actions with clarity and even prescience are the marks of a successful leader. Who does that today? We do not need a Marcus Brutus or Gaius Cassius to fix our politics now, because we do not have a Caesar running things yet. We need today’s plebeians to vote the pretenders to a future throne out on their proverbial ears, the ears deaf to the wishes and complaints of the masses.
Not so simple: Like all labels and generalizations, they miss the detail, the nuance. It is unfair to lump all those enamored with the shorthanded MAGA movement into one monolithic group. Being sucked into advocacy for political change can be a slow process with twists and turns, very dependent on personal circumstances. There is inevitably “fog” in both directions.
What precisely needs change and how to change it is never crystal clear. Policy pronouncements lack detail and are often aspirations not entirely based on real needs at ground level. Add layers of polemics and promises and it would not be a surprise that over time, realities sink in and cracks appear. (We spoke of such cracks in two prior posts: From thirty-thousand feet…, 3 April 2023 and Cracks, 29 May 2023.) The charismatic leader can hold things together rather well, unless clay feet evidence too soon. Campaigns for change can survive a few fallen idols if the change is substantive and at least hints of the change can already be seen. These observations hold no matter the language in use at the time.
No dead language: Were Latin buzz phrases common in ancient Rome? Yes, and would you believe that many are uncomfortably still applicable today. Panem et Circenses (Bread and Circuses) are the way we appease the public with superficial comforts while neglecting substantive issues. Ad hominem (Against the person) is currently the one and only attack tool that the current US Administration offers when their “facts” are revealed as vapor. Veni, Vidi, Vici (I came, I saw, I conquered) accurately reflects what our current leader planned to say and still disingenuously claims after accomplishing few or none of his promised miracles. I guess it is not reasonable to expect that after only 2000 years we have had enough time for our politics to mature.
Participles and praise
Whether spoken by the inheritors of Latin or of the Anglo-Saxon tongues, verbs convey the essentials. But they can be harsh, direct, and uncompromising. Making them into adjectives and nouns works wonders. The present participle and its twin, the gerund, are soft and flow continuously. Leading, listening, meeting, and singing someone’s praises do no harm. And when the -ing attaches to a bad verb, it allows time to correct or avoid. That’s also good. A bit naïve and silly for sure, but the point is that much of our social and political intercourse relies on language and how our messages are received. Diplomats know this. Journalists know this. Speech writers for politicians know this. And parents and teachers know this. That is why when the verbs fly in their unsoftened forms, we know it’s no accident and the verbal analogy to Newton’s Third Law, “for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction” inevitably applies.
The heirs of erudition
Latin has fallen out of favor in places where it had been the official standard -- in the law, in medicine, and in Catholic liturgy. Use of the vernacular is creeping in. Caveat Emptor has become "let the buyer beware.” Dermis is no longer preferred over “skin.” And sanctus lives on as “holy.” But Latin has not given up the ghost. Its use confers a certain erudition, respectability, and patina of history that modern verbiage lacks. One example is the characters Optimus Prime and Rodimus of the “Transformers” film series.[3] And we can’t overlook deus ex machina ("god out of the machine"), the Latin description of the story-ending ploy of Greek theater. In fact, Greek also contributes to the false sense of lore and letters as evidenced by the Transformers’ Megatron.
After our trip from exploiting MAGA’s bogus Latin meaning through Ceasar and on to film, the most erudite way for signing off is to say sine die ("without a day"), an adjournment not ad infinitum but until some time next week.
Credits: “Caesar and Witch” and “Three MAGA Acolytes” modified from those generated by openAI.com’s DALL-E image generator.
[1] Ab antiquo alter ego huius auctoris. [From this author’s ancient alter ego.]
[2] "All Gaul is divided into three parts," the opening line of De Bello Gallico, Julius Caesar's commentary on his campaigns against the Gauls in the 50s BC. (https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/15/monograph/book/3143)
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transformers_(film_series)
Nota Bene: Others may ruminate differently. But be warned: In my case, seeing or hearing something quite trivial -- a saying, a store clerk’s mannerisms, or bad grammar on a food product’s label – triggers a stream-of-consciousness extrapolation toward grander notions and generalizations. That is what often happens in these posts. ADDENDUM: Those subscribers who have been here for a while will have noticed that at times Ruminations has veered into diatribes. I make no apology. I just want my readers to know that it’s quite intentional. When events come close to making the ‘blood boil,’ that discontent bubbles up here.
Disclaimer: Any and all opinions expressed here are my own at the time of writing with no expectation that they will hold beyond my next review of this article. Opinions are like a river, winding hither and yon, encountering obstacles and rapids, and suffering turbulent mixing of silts from its depths and detritus from its banks. But just as a river has its clear headwaters and a fertile delta, so do opinions, notwithstanding any intervening missteps and uncertainties.
Reminder: You can visit the Cycloid Fathom Technical Publishing website at cycloid-fathom.com and the gallery at cycloid-fathom.com/gallery.
Forthcoming posts (unless life intervenes)
All in favor say ‘aye,’ not AI
…Democracy in action and inaction
25 August 2025
Humor
…The ultimate litmus test – no laughing matter
1 September 2025
Harmony, Hate, Heaven, and Hell
…Two sides of the same coin?
8 September 2025
Mr. Orthogonal Man
…The right angle of attack
15 September 2025
A Better Day
…Poignant prognostications
September 2025
