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As you may know, when two states fail to come to permanent treaty terms, they may agree for the time being to a modus vivendi, an interim memoradum of indefinite term specifying usually mutually unsatisfactory but nevertheless tolerable conditions of peaceful continuance, pending a final agreement. The phrase modus vivendi is of course Latin, literally translated (if I understand correctly), as "way (or manner) of living."

What I need today is a slight variation on the phrase, a variation that implies that one state has outwitted the other in negotiating the modus vivendi, such that the real effect of the modus is to deliver a sly, unearned advantage to the one at the other's expense, with the added insult that the modus is not even a permanent treaty—that once the advantage has been pocketed, a permanent treaty will still remain to be negotiated.

Of course, this is a lot to load into a two-word Latin phrase! I hardly expect two words to convey the whole meaning, but I want a fresh phrase that nonetheless captures the spirit of modus vivendi, with the indicated twist.

The best with which I have yet been able to come up is modus praevalentis, in which valere is (I believe) "to be strong" and, by extension, praevalere is "to take the upper hand."

Two questions, please:

  1. Can you think of a better Latin phrase to serve the indicated purpose?
  2. Did I decline my Latin right, or should it have been modus praevalendi or such?
thb
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    This question appears to be off-topic because it is about Latin, not English – FumbleFingers Dec 04 '13 at 00:42
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    @FumbleFingers: Fair enough. I should be happy to take the question elsewhere. Did I misread the forum's latin tag, though? "Questions about the use of Latin words and phrases in English." – thb Dec 04 '13 at 00:53
  • Others may interpret that differently (or indeed not subscribe to it anyway), but so far as I'm concerned you're asking for help with a Latin "neologism". Personally I would closevote even questions asking for a relatively well-known term (someone asking if there was a Latin expression meaning the existing state of affairs, for example). So you can see where I'm coming from. – FumbleFingers Dec 04 '13 at 01:05

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While I agree with Kris above (you need a very sound understanding of the noun declensions and verb conjugations to create your own Latin phrases), I think it is fine to do so, though it is uncommon and somewhat misleading, connoting the wisdom of antiquity where there is none.

Many, many Latin phrases were 'coined' well after Latin was no longer spoken anywhere but in the Vatican. Those come to us mostly through Law, eg. "in loco parentis", and a few through Medicine.

The English translation of "PRAEVALERE" is "to prevail with greater skill and knowledge". I'm not sure that's exactly what you want, and I sure cant conjugate it well enough to help you there, but good luck.

anongoodnurse
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AFAIK, things like Latin expressions are 'borrowed', not invented, in English.

If there's a well-understood foreign phrase that expresses a thought suitably, one may 'borrow' it into English.

Creating neologisms in a foreign language for use in English? I seriously doubt if that would be a good idea.

The rules for declention in Latin are a matter of Latin grammar, not English grammar. True, one needs a good understanding of declention in the original language (Gk., Lt.) to know how to derive the correct forms of a word sourced from that language, into English. That's a different case, though.

Kris
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