Mea Culpa: A departure from the Romans’ usual way of operating

John Rentoul on questions of style and usage in last week’s Independent

Bernie Sanders, a so-called leftie, campaigns in Phoenix (Getty)

You have to have a good reason to use words and phrases from foreign or dead languages, I think. That was the test that should have been applied to the editorial on Wednesday about coronavirus, which concluded: “So far, the government’s response has been proportionate and guided by expert advice – a welcome change from its modus operandi.”

I agree with that, but what did we gain by using Latin, instead of saying, “a welcome change from its usual way of operating”?

Seen it before: If there is a worse language than Latin to throw into our prose to try to make it sound elevated, it is French. Especially when we use it wrongly, as we did in a comment article about the way the Democratic Party establishment has united against Bernie Sanders: “Four years after party brahmins coalesced around Hillary Clinton as the electable candidate (hahahaha), the sense of deja vu is oppressive.”