What is the meaning of Latin phrase ‘Quid pro quo’? – Diligent IAS 27/11/2019 – Posted in: Daily News – Tags:

Quid pro quo

 

As the proceedings to impeach President Donald Trump unfurl in the United States Congress, one expression that has been heard again and again is “quid pro quo” — something that the President and his supporters have insisted cannot be established in his dealings with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, thus absolving him of blame.

 

Quid pro quo

 

  • According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, Quid pro quo means “something given or received for something else”.
  • In the 1500s in England, it was often used in the sense of apothecaries substituting one medicine for the other, by accident or design. It has also been part of trade lexicon as a term for the barter system.
  • The Latin phrase, Quid pro quo, made its way into legal terminology, where it is now used to imply a mutually beneficial deal between two parties.  In political contexts, like the one involving Trump currently, it is often seen as an essential requirement to suggest or establish corruption, wrongdoing, or impropriety.

 

The expression is frequently used in India as well. Most recently, Rahul Gandhi, then the president of the Congress, repeatedly alleged ahead of the Lok Sabha elections that rules were bent to get the offset contract of the Rafale jet deal for Anil Ambani — the BJP’s defence then was that the government had no say in the choice of offset partner, and no quid pro quo could thus be made out.

 

Source: Indian Express

 

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