Apollo

Apollo (pronounced uh-pol-oh)

(1) The ancient Greek and Roman god of light, healing, music, poetry, prophecy, manly beauty and quite some more.

(2) Popular term to describe strikingly handsome youth.

(3) In aerospace, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) programme of spacecraft (1961-1972) which between 1969-1972 carried 12 US astronauts to the moon and back.

(4) A Eurasian mountain butterfly, Parnassius apollo.

From classical Greek mythology, the name is a Latin form of the Greek Apollon, often cited as related to an obsolete Greek verb apollymi (to destroy) but there’s nothing conclusive.  More compelling is the notion it’s a cognate to the Doric month Apellaios and the offerings apellaia at the initiation of young men during the family-festival apellai.  Essentially, theories about Greek origins and a number of non-Greek etymologies are all speculative.

Apollo and the Muses, oil on canvas pentyptych (circa 1985) by Charles Meynier (1763 or 1768-1832).  Although in his notes the artist referred to the five panels as a pentyptych, that reference was conceptual and they've always been hung as five separate, framed canvases. 

From left to right: (1) Polymnia was one of the nine muses in Greek mythology and a patron of dancing or geometry.  Here she is depicted  standing in front of a bust of the Athenian orator Demosthenes. (2)  Erato, the muse of lyric and erotic poetry, is often shown with the golden arrow received from Eros (or Cupid), a sign of the emotion that inspires her.  (3) Urania leans on a starry orb, an allusion to her role as the muse of astronomy.  As all good muses must, she is staring dreamily at a god or man.  (4) The eldest of the nine Greek muses, Calliope was the goddess of music, song, and dance.  She was also known as the goddess of epic poetry and conferred the gift of eloquence on kings and princes. She stands here before a bust of Homer, the ancient Greek poet who history credits with having written the epic poems the Odyssey and the Iliad.  (5) Clio, the Greek muse of history, was the daughter of Zeus and Titaness Mnemosyne, the goddess of memory and is here depicted writing while surrounded by objects associated with preserving the memory of historical figures and events: busts, reliefs, and sculptures.  Clio's name was from the Greek root κλέω or κλείω (to recount; to make famous; to celebrate) and Clio is the traditional Latinisation but there has among classicists for centuries been a faction which uses K to represent the original Greek kappa, and ei to represent the diphthong ει (epsilon iota), thus the appearance in some texts of Kleio.

The paintings were commissioned by a textile merchant who planned to hang them in a grand gallery in his Toulouse townhouse but he went bankrupt prior to delivery and the paintings were purchased by a Swiss general who took them to his castle in Wallenried.  A wing had been added to the castle just to display the general's collection and there Apollo and the Muses remained for almost 180 years.  Although in good condition, when re-discovered, there were signs of neglect typical of works not carefully curated under controlled conditions.  The fluctuations in temperature and humidity at the castle had caused cracking in the surfaces and, over time, the sheer weight of the canvases caused the tacking edges to deteriorate and pull away from their stretchers, creating large drape-like buckles.  Most also exhibited varying degrees of the dreaded “traction crackle”, the degenerative process in which a paint layer on the surface shrinks faster than an underlying layer underneath, resulting in wide cracks revealing the color below.  The original hand-carved frames were intact and needed only the time-consuming conservation work to address the deterioration of their gesso and gold.

All of the paintings needed reduction of their varnish layers which had grown dull and dis-colored, descending to a brownish-orange tinge and when first viewed, all the works were dark, dull and murky, as if the muses were stepping out of a dense fog.  Worse, at some point, a prudish white veil had been painted over the body of Cupid many years after Meynier had died, a contemporary watercolor by the artist and an etching documenting the Salon of 1801 both showing the radical intervention was not part of the original.  Restoration was challenging because the original paint had aged for least 75 years before Cupid’s drapery and working under high magnification, conservators spent much time removing the 180 square inches of overpainting, re-shaping and re-sharpening scalpels so the unwanted could be chipped away without harming the original paint.  When complete, the restoration enhanced Meynier’s reputation because for the first time it became apparent he was one of the era's great colorists, his use of juxtaposed, muted complementary colors in draperies and skin tones creating soft vibrancies that undulate throughout the entire suite.

Planet Earth photographed from Apollo 8 as it rounded the dark side of the moon, 1968.  Our lovely blue home is like the most precious jewel in a desert of cold rocks, swirling gas and fiery relics.  We should look after it. 

Apollo has variously been recognized as a god of music, truth and prophecy, healing, the sun and light, plague, poetry, and more.  Apollo was the son of Zeus and Leto, and had a twin sister, the chaste huntress Artemis.  An oracular god, the prophetic deity of the Delphic Oracle, medicine and healing were associated with Apollo although, in one of the paradoxes which are part of the charm of the myths of Antiquity, he was also seen as a god who could bring ill-health and plague.  As the leader of the Muses and their choir, Apollo functioned as the patron god of music and poetry and, using the lyre created for him by Hermes became the most common attribute in the works of art created in his honor.  The hymns sung to Apollo were called paeans and his most important daily task was to harness and ride his four-horse chariot with which he moved the Sun across the sky.

Map of the Greek Islands.

In most of the tales in Greek mythology, Apollo was born on the island of Delos and it's said Leto was unable to find a safe place to give birth because the jealous goddess Hera had placed a curse on her.  However, the island of Delos which until that moment had been floating around the Aegean suddenly became stable and anchored to the seabed, providing a safe birthplace for Apollo and his twin sister Artemis.  After that, not much happened in the region for a few millennia, the next significant event in 2019 when the MTV series Lindsay Lohan’s Beach Club was filmed on the neighboring island of Mykonos

Colossus

Colossus (pronounced kuh-los-us)

(1) A statue of gigantic size.

(2) Anything colossal, gigantic, or very powerful.

(3) The internal name for Google's file system, introduced in 2010 and optimized for use in big-machine databases stored in multiple server clusters.  

1350-1400: From the Middle English, from the Latin colossus (statue larger than life), from the Ancient Greek κολοσσός, (kolossós) (statue or image, origin uncertain but thought most likely from a pre-Hellenic Mediterranean language) and the word was used by Herodotus to describe large Egyptian statues.  The figurative sense "anything of awesome greatness or vastness" is from 1794, taken from the adjective colossal (of extraordinary size, huge, gigantic), in use since 1712 although, colossic in the same sense is noted from circa 1600 and there are instances of colossean in the seventeenth century, both from the French colossal, from colosse, all forms from the Latin colossus from the Greek kolossós. The noun Colosseum dates from the 1560s, replacing the earlier Coliseum, the name in Medieval Latin for the classical Amphitheatrum Flavium (begun circa 70), noun use of the neuter of the adjective colosseus (gigantic), thought perhaps a reference to the big statue of Nero that for so long stood nearby. Colossus is a noun' the noun plural is colossi or colossuses.

The plural of colossus doesn't often come up in conversation but when it does, the choice is between colossi and colossusus, the latter there to be used by anyone who finds unwelcome, for whatever reason, the adoption in English of classical plural forms.  Not all words from Greek with a Latinised ending -us take the same pluralisation and there's no objection either to colossuses or the Latinized colossi; those who object to either probably suffer the condition known as hyper-correctionism and it is a real phenomenon (the squabble about octopuses, octopodes and the charming octopi) and is ongoing.  All that can be recommended is consistency; in a document, either adopt the English plural forms or use the classical form but don't mix.

Vaguely plausible rendering of how The Colossus of Rhodes may have appeared.

The Colossus of Rhodes was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.  It was a very big statue, erected somewhere near the port of the city of Rhodes, the biggest settlement on what is the one of the larger Greek islands of the same name which lies off what is now Turkey’s Aegean coast.  Taking a dozen years to complete, the statue, construction of which began in 292 BC, was erected to honor Elios, the God of the Sun, who brought the inhabitants victory over Demetrius Poliorcetes (Demetrius I of Macedon; “The Besieger" 337–283 BC) who laid siege to Rhodes in 305-304 BC.  It stood for only sixty-odd years, collapsing during a severe earthquake which struck in 226 BC, contemporary reports indicating the structure fractured at both knees before toppling.  Remarkably, the mostly bronze wreckage was left substantially undisturbed for some eight-hundred years, becoming something of a tourist attraction before, in 654, it was salvaged by Arab invaders under the Muslim caliph Mu'awiya I (معاوية بن أبي سفيان‎, Muʿāwiya ibn Abī Sufyān; circa 600–680) who sold it to someone described as “a Jewish merchant from Damascus” who is said to have carted it off on a camel train of almost “a thousand beasts”.

Demetrios the Besieger had a scandalous private life but had a flair for military matters, noted too for innovations in engineering such as the machines and devices built by his armies as siege engines.  However, even the forces he was able at deploy in 305-304 BC weren’t sufficient to defeat the fortifications of Rhodes and eventually, Demetrios was compelled to retreat, abandoning the siege machinery on the island.  To give thanks to the Sun God, the Rhodians granted the commission to build a triumphal statue to Helios to the sculptor Chares of Lindos (Χάρης ὁ Λίνδιος, circa 330 BC-circa 280 BC), a pupil of Lysippos (Λύσιππος; fourth century BC) and, in the dozen years between 304-292 BC, he supervised the construction.

Digitally generated image of statue of Zeus by Phidias,

Before the Colossus, Rhodes had long been famous for its statues, the contemporary accounts probably as unreliable as any Roman histories but even if Pliny’s count of some three-thousand was an exaggeration, the writing of others do suggest there were doubtlessly a lot, many in stone, some in bronze, but nothing on the scale of the Colossus had even been attempted.  There was a titanic statue, as they’re now known, in Olympus, a chryséléphantine (one made from Gold and ivory) study of Zeus some 13 m (42 feet) high, another of the seven wonders although the sculptor Phidias (Φειδίας, circa 480–430 BC) had avoided the fragility inherent in a standing figure by having Zeus sit in a chair.  He had also built a chryshephantine statue of the goddess Athena but that stood but 9m (30 feet) high; by any standards, the titanic Colossus was truly colossal.

Logo of Lindsay Lohan's Rhodes Beach House.

Beach Structurally, the build was executed along the well-understood engineering principles of the age, the base of white marble first installed to which were affixed the feet and ankles, an iron and stone framework gradually formed as scaffolding and structure proceeded in unison upwards.  To permit the workers to reach the highest levels, an earth ramp was built because the heights involved meant a free-standing system of scaffolding would lack the needed stability; when the work was complete, the earth ramp was demolished and the soil carted off.  While the superstructure was built, workers cast the outer skin in bronze using plates, the metal formed with copper melted in large ovens, to which iron, making 10-20% of the mix, was added.  Then the mouton metal mixture was moved in large ladles to be distributed in clay molds, flat structures used to form sheets varying in thickness according to need. Once cast, the rough edges were ground away and the plates polished before they were transported to the building site where they were hammered to the desired shape to be attached to the iron structure,  The thickest and heaviest plates were those rendered for the feet and ankles, complex in the shape of their curves and needing more mass to afford greater stability.  Thus for a dozen years, the thin bronze skin was added to the growing body of stone, each plate fixed to the iron frame and then to the neighboring plate.  Once finished, it was polished to reflect the rays of the Sun so it would shine as intensely as possible, better to honor Helios. 

How engineers would today build a 122 m (400 feet) high Colossus using modern techniques of structural engineering.  An interesting exercise although the Greek exchequer may have other fiscal priorities.

From the laying of the first stone to its toppling, building its destruction lies a time span of but sixty-seven years but the Colossus ranks as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world with Great Pyramid of Giza which still stands after almost five-thousand.  Such was the scale of the Colossus that the ruins still impressed, “…even lying on the ground, it is a marvel" wrote Pliny the Elder (24-79) who noted few men could wrap their arms around the fallen thumb and each finger alone would have stood taller than most other statues.  The earthquake which so damaged the city 226 BC broke the Colossus at its narrowest and thus weakest points, the knees, and given the mass which existed above, there was no chance it could survive.  Although it would be centuries before the list of the seven wonders would exist as the codified canon now familiar, the stature was already famous and the an offer to the pay the cost of restoration was extended by Ptolemy III Euergetes (Πτολεμαῖος Εὐεργέτης, Ptolemy the Benefactor; circa 280–222 BC) of Egypt.  However, an oracle was consulted and their judgement forbade any re-construction so the offer was declined.  Details of the oracle’s pronouncement are lost but it’s speculated the conclusion may have been the earthquake was the act of a wrathful Helios and the ruins should be left where they fell, lest anger again be aroused.  There is no otherwise compelling explanation to account for why so much valuable bronze wouldn’t for centuries be recycled.

A (fanciful) engraving of the Colossus of Rhodes (circa 1540) by Martin Heemskerck (1498-1574).

The exact location remains uncertain but the notion the Colossus straddled the entrance to Rhodes harbor with ships passing between its legs was a figment of medieval imagination, a thing famously vivid.  Given its method of construction, such a thing would have collapsed under its own weight even before it was complete and, had it stood over the water, not only would construction have been challenging but when it fell, it would have blocked the entrance to the Mandraki harbor.  Despite that, in the early 1980s when a large piece of rubble was discovered in the water, there were still romantics who hoped this might vindicate the medieval theory.  There’s little doubt the story of a 60m (200 feet) tall Colossus straddling the entrance to the harbor was the work of opportunist poets and artists, the engineers and architects of the time sufficiently acquainted with physics and metallurgy to have assured all of the impossibility of their vision yet it seems long to have captured the medieval imagination.  Despite all that, it still influenced many even at the dawn of modernity, being one of the inspirations for the Statue of Liberty but that was designed in a way to ensure greater strength and stability, the weight distribution and the dimensions of the base entirely different.  There’s no doubt the statue stood somewhere in the proximity of Rhodes harbor but archaeological excavations have thus far revealed nothing, not unsurprising given the footprint of a vertical structure is much less than a temple or other building, and the urbanization of Rhodes over two millennia mean the site may long ago have been built-over.  The Colossus though would have shared one noted characteristic with the Statue of Liberty: When copper rubs on iron, it creates electricity, especially in a costal environment with salty air.  Like Liberty, the Colossus of Rhodes made its own electricity.

Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen (1911–2005; Premier of Queensland 1968-1987) (left), Russ Hinze (1919–1991; Minister for this and that in Queensland state government, 1974-1988) (centre) & Bob Hawke (1929–2019; Prime Minister of Australia 1983-1991) (right).  Russ Hinze was a politician who served in the state parliament of Queensland, Australia between 1966-1988.  He held many portfolios, often simultaneously, one of which was minister for roads.  In honor of his impressive girth, he was dubbed The Colossus of Roads.

Wartime photograph of Colossus.

Colossus was the name of the world’s first electronic device which truly could be described a computer (being programmable, electronic and digital although the instructions were effected by switches, not stored programs).  It was built by the British in 1943 to break German military codes and was one of the mechanisms which provided the allies with the ultra decrypts, the importance of which to the war effort was of critical significance or merely helpful depending on the historian consulted.  During the war, twelve of the machines were assembled (which functioned independently; clusters and farms then an engineer's dream) but two didn't become functional until after the end of hostilities.  Colossus and the whole code-breaking operation remained a well-kept secret until the mid-1970s and the revelation induced some re-assessment of the strategic and tactical acuity of a number of political and military leaders, many of their decisions once through based on intuition or brilliance now understood as merely the use of good intelligence (ie "reading the enemy's mail").

Ketchup

Ketchup (pronounced kech-uhp or kach-uhp)

(1) A condiment consisting of puréed tomatoes, onions, vinegar, sugar, spices etc.

(2) Any of various other condiments or piquant sauces for meat, fish (mushroom ketchup; walnut ketchup etc).

1711: From the Malay (Austronesian) kichap or kəchap (fish sauce), possibly from the dialectal Chinese kéjāp (Guangdong) or ke-tsiap (Xiamen) (akin to the Chinese qié (eggplant) + chī (juice)) or from the Chinese (Amoy) kōetsiap (koechiap) (brine of pickled fish), the construct being kōe (seafood) + tsiap (sauce).  Linguistic anthropologists concluded that if came from the latter, it was probably from the Chinese community in northern Vietnam.  Catsup and the even earlier catchup (1680s) were earlier anglicized forms which died out, except in the US where, south of the Mason-Dixon Line, catsup is still in use.

Tomato came later

Ketchup was originally a fish sauce made from various plant juices but came to be used in English for a wide variety of spiced gravies and sauces.  In the seventeenth century, the Chinese mixed pickled fish and spices and called it (in the Amoy dialect) kôe-chiap or kê-chiap (鮭汁) meaning the brine of pickled fish (鮭, salmon; 汁, juice) or shellfish.  By the early eighteenth century, the table sauce had arrived in the Malay states (present day Malaysia and Singapore) and colonists took it home to England.  The Malaysian-Malay words for the sauce were variations of kicap & kecap and those evolved into the English "ketchup". 

Published in London, William Kitchiner’s (1775-1827) Apicius Redivivus (Cook's Oracle, 1817), included seven pages of recipes for different types of catsup (1 spelled ketchup, 72 catsup), including walnut, mushroom, cucumber, oyster, cockle and mussel, tomato, as well as more exotic concoctions made with vinegar and anchovies, suggesting the word was adopted to describe just about any spiced sauce.  By the 1870s, English cookbooks and encyclopedias noted mushroom, walnut, and tomato ketchup were the predominate flavors; in the US, tomato ketchup emerged circa 1800 and dominated by the late nineteenth century.  In the English-speaking word, despite Ketchup’s English origins, it seems now regarded as a US form and “tomato sauce” is elsewhere generally preferred.  In German use, Ketchup is now the approved form, the alternative spelling Ketschup now proscribed after being deprecated in a 2017 German spelling reform.

In 2004, US food processing company HJ Heinz conducted its "Four stars fall for Heinz Ketchup" promotion with the debut of Heinz's new Celebrity Talking Labels.  Former Pittsburgh Steelers National Football League (NFL) quarterback Terry Bradshaw (b 1948), dual Olympic gold medalist, and two-time FIFA Women's World Cup champion Mia Hamm (b 1972), actor William Shatner (b 1931) and actor Lindsay Lohan (b 1986) were the subjects of the talking labels campaign and the range was released in what Heinz said were "limited-edition bottles of the condiment", each featuring labels with quotes from each celebrity.  The promotion was well-received and extended until 2006 when Heinz offered consumers the opportunity to create their own labels by ordering customized bottles through a page on the Heinz website.

Demon

Demon (pronounced dee-muhn (U) or dee-mon (non-U))

(1) An evil supernatural spirit; devil or fiend; an evil spirit resident in or working for Hell; a devil; a false god or idol; a Satanic divinity.

(2) An evil passion or influence.

(3) A most wicked, cruel or malevolent person; also (in weakened sense) a mischievous person, especially a child.

(4) A person who is extremely skillful in, energetic at, or devoted to a given activity, especially a sport.

(5) Of, pertaining to, characteristic of, or noting a demon.

(6) In computing, a part of a computer program, such as a help facility, that can run in the background behind the current task or application, and which will only begin to work when certain conditions are met or when it is specifically invoked; often styled daemon.

(7) A person's fears or anxieties (always in the plural and usually in the form “haunted by their demons” or “facing their demons”).

(8) In Greek mythology, a tutelary deity or spirit intermediate between the major Olympian gods and mankind, especially a deified hero or the entity which supposedly guided Socrates, telling him what not to do.

(9) In the thought experiments of both physics and philosophy, a hypothetical entity with special abilities postulated for the purposes required.

(10) A person's inner spirit or genius; a guiding or creative impulse (archaic).

(11) In card games, a type of patience or solitaire played in the UK & US.

(12) Any of various hesperiid butterflies of the genera Notocrypta and Udaspes.

Circa 1200-1250: From the Middle English demon (an evil spirit, malignant supernatural being, an incubus, a devil), from the Medieval Latin dēmōn, daemōn & daemoniumm (lar, familiar spirit, guardian spirit), from the Ancient Greek daimónion (thing of divine nature (though when used by Jewish and Christian writers: “evil spirit”)), neuter of daimónios, from δαίμων (daímōn) (deity, divine power; lesser god; guiding spirit, tutelary deity) and in both the Greek and Latin, the meanings sometime extended to souls of the dead and “one's genius, lot, or fortune”.  Ultimate root was the primitive Indo-European dai-mon (divider, provider (of fortunes or destinies)) from the root da (to divide).  The alternative spellings daemon & daimon was used in specialized senses and remain a favourite of the modern gaming industry; daimon was a transliteration of the Greek daimōn which was deployed to avoid the post-classical associations of demon (often in the adjectival form daimonic).  The demoness (female demon) dates from the 1630s.  Demon is a noun; the noun plural is demons.

Crooked Hillary Clinton depicted as a demon (believed to be digitally-altered image).

The malignant sense existed in English from the start because the Greek word was used (with daimonion) in Christian Greek translations and the Vulgate (the principal Latin version of the Bible, prepared mainly by the theologian Saint Jerome (circa 344-Circa 420) in the late fourth century, and (as revised in 1592) adopted as the official text for the Roman Catholic Church) for "god of the heathen, heathen idol" and also for "unclean spirit".  This was also part of the Jewish tradition where authors had used the Greek word in this sense, using it to render shedim (lords, idols) in the Septuagint and in Matthew 8:31 there appears daimones, translated as deofol in the Old English & feend or deuil in the Middle English.  A more evocative word in the Old English word was hellcniht (literally "hell-knight").  The inherited sense from the Ancient Greek (supernatural agent or intelligence lower than a god; a ministering spirit) appeared in English from the 1560s, written variously as daemon or daimon.  The meaning "destructive or hideous person" is from the 1610s and as "an evil agency personified" (ie the demon drink), from 1712.  In another sense in late fourteenth century English, the “Demon of Socrates” was a daimonion (a divine principle or inward oracle) although his accusers (and later the Church Fathers) represented this otherwise.  The Demon Star (1895) is Algol (variable star (Beta Persei)) in the constellation Perseus, documented in the late fourteenth century, which translates literally as "the Demon" from the Arabic al-ghul (the demon), from which is derived the modern ghoul.  It corresponds, in modern representations of the constellation, to the gorgon's head Perseus holds, but probably it was so called because it visibly varies in brightness every three days, which sets it apart from other bright stars.  In one of the most famous fragments of English verse, Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s (1772-1834) Kubla Khan (1798), there are the lines:

A savage place! as holy and enchanted

As e'er beneath a waning moon was haunted

By woman wailing for her demon-lover!

The noun demonarchy (rule or dominion of demons) first appeared in the 1640s while the noun demonology (the study of demons or beliefs about demons) had appeared in both secular and church documents as early as the 1590s, the related terms of the discipline being demonologer & demonological.  The adjective demonic (also daemonic) (devilish, of the nature of or pertaining to a demon), from the Latin daemonicus dates from the 1660s while demonical (from the Old English glossed daemonicus with deofelseoc (devil-sick) was from later in the century.  The adjective demoniac (possessed by a demon, insane) was from circa 1400 but several decades earlier there had been the noun demoniak, (one who is possessed, a lunatic), from the Late Latin daemoniacus, from the Greek daimoniakos (possessed by a demon), from diamond.  From the 1640s the adjective was used in the sense of "of or pertaining to demons or spirits" while by 1820 this had extended to a rather softened "devilish"; the related forms were demoniacal & demoniacally.

Lindsay Lohan in demonic pose to celebrate her twenty-third birthday, 2009.

The verb demonize (also demonise) (to make into a demon (literally or figuratively)) dates from 1778, either as a construct built from the noun or from the Medieval Latin daemonizare, all influenced by the Greek daimonizesthai (to be under the power of a tutelary deity) and the sense in the New Testament of "to be possessed by a demon”, the related forms demonized, demonizing & demonization all in use by the late eighteenth century.  The noun Pandæmonium (pandemonium the modern form) was in 1667 coined by John Milton (1608-1674) in Paradise Lost as the name of the palace built in the middle of Hell (the high capital of Satan and all his peers and the abode of all the demons), the construct being the Greek pan- (all) + the Late Latin daemonium (evil spirit) from the Greek daimonion (inferior divine power) from daimōn (in the sense of lesser god).

The Dodge Demons

The 1969 Dodge Swinger 340 (left), a platform familiar in Australia where it was produced (1969-1971) in a variety of configurations including a two-door hardtop (a 1971 VG Regal 770 (centre)) and four-door sedans (a 1971 long-wheelbase VIP (right)).

The Dodge Dart of the mid 1960s was a compact (in US terms) economy car which fulfilled its role well, lasting indeed until the late 1970s when it turned out to be in many ways superior to its ill-fated replacements.  However, an unusual conjunction of economic, legislative and demographic factors in the late 1960s made the Dart an ideal platform for a cheap muscle car which could easily and quickly be built from the corporate parts bin.  Its humble origins were never entirely disguised and it always lurked behind the sturm und drang of the bigger, more illustrious models like the Charger, Challenger and Daytona but as a bargain-priced muscle car, it deserved success.  Dodge had tentatively dipped the Dart’s toe into the muscle car waters in 1967 when it introduced the Dart GTS which, fitted with a 273 cubic inch (4.4 litre) V8 performed admirably given its modest specification but it the next year it became available with a new 340 cubic inch (5.5 litre) V8 which, thought under-rated at 275 (gross) horsepower, was one of the best units of the era.  Able in most cases to match the performance offered by much of the bigger-engined competition, reviews were positive and in 1969 a separate line called the Swinger 340 was released, a package which convinced Dodge to abandon its brief flirtation with overkill, not renewing the availability of the 383 & 440 cubic inch (6.3 & 7.2 litre) V8 engines in the platform.  The big-block engines were really suitable only for a drag strip, the lighter 340 a better idea.

1971 Dodge Demon 340.

Demon decal with demonic pitchfork.

In 1971, the Dart received an additional body style, borrowed from their corporate companion Plymouth which had added the Duster coupé as a stylish addition to the Valiant line, their equivalent of the compact Dart.  However, Dodge’s marketing people in the early 1970s either smoked too much weed or didn’t get out enough because shortly after flirting with the idea of adding statutory grape to their paint colour charts, they decided to call their new high-performance compact the Demon.  That upset the Christian lobby, influential even then but remarkably, the marketing department was going to use the name Beaver until more worldly types told them about its use in slang.  The churches weren’t best pleased about Demon but, given the scriptural basis, they relented despite the cartoon devil on a decal stuck to the fenders.  The churches, not impressed with a marketing strategy which seemed to support the Antichrist weren’t convinced by the explanation that it was all about a play on words (Come in for a Demon-stration) and continued to protest.  Dodge persisted and although denied statutory grape, buyers could choose lurid colors like Go-Green and Citron Yella while for those intent on building the quickest version possible, there was the Demon Sizzler package which bundled a number of dress-up and high performance options.  It was a good combination at a low price but it was out-sold by the mechanically identical Plymouth Duster 340s possibly because the Christian lobby had actually organized the preaching of sermons condemning Dodge as doing the Devil’s work so in 1973 the Demon nomenclature (and the offending cartoon) was dropped, the thing re-branded to the bland Dart Sport, a line which ran for three years (although the once virile 340 would be detuned and then replaced with a much milder 360 cubic inch (5.9 litre) unit.  The Christian lobby thus claimed the demon’s scalp although they never managed to veto Dodge’s use of Swinger and today, the 1971 & 1972 Demon 340s are sought-after.  Production numbers were never high (10,098 & 8,700 respectively) and give its cheap, disposable nature, and the buyers attracted to such things over the decades, attrition rates were high and survivors are few although, as just about everywhere in the muscle car ecosystem, there’s a minor industry in creating clones.

Demon redux: 2018 Dodge Challenger Demon.  The yellow plastic guard on the leading edge of the front splitter was attached at the factory to deter damage during transport to dealerships.  The instruction was to remove them prior to sale but they picked up a cult following and many buyers insisted they be retained.

Chrysler reprised the Dodge Demon name in 2018 (and Swinger in 2022) apparently with little theological opposition.  The engine used in the new Demon was an evolution of the 376 cubic inch (6.2 litre) Hemi V8 which, in 2017’s Challenger Hellcat, was rated at 707 horsepower.  With production limited to 3300 units, the 2018 Demon used a supercharged Hemi which produced 808 hp but an optional package boosted that to 840.  So equipped, the Demon would cover a standing quarter-mile (400m) in 9.65 seconds at 140 mph (225 km/h) and cost was a remarkably modest US$86,091 including the optional package which, while not entirely suitable for driving on public roads, was completely street-legal.  It included a number of features which hinted at its real purpose, including the passenger and rear seats being no-cost options and, most intriguingly, a high-output mode which both increased power and disabled the cabin air-conditioning, routing its cooling flow instead to the induction system, a device that lowered the intake temperature by 18-odd degrees, thereby gaining a few more horsepower.  Although tuned for quarter-mile sprints and thus limiting top-speed to about 170 mph (270 km/h), it could be geared for top end performance and would easily exceed 200 mph (320 km/h).

Virtual

Virtual (pronounced vur-choo-uhl)

(1) Being as specified in power, force, or effect, though not actually or expressly such; having the essence or effect but not the appearance or form.

(2) In optics, of an image (such as one in a looking glass), formed by the apparent convergence of rays that are prolonged geometrically, but not actually (as opposed to a real image).

(3) Being a focus of a system forming such images.

(4) In mechanics, pertaining to a theoretical infinitesimal velocity in a mechanical system that does not violate the system's constraints (applied also to other physical quantities); resulting from such a velocity.

(5) In physics, pertaining to a theoretical quality of something which would produce an observable effect if counteracting factors such as friction are disregarded (used often of the behavior of water if a factor such as friction were to be disregarded.

(6) In physics, designating or relating to a particle exchanged between other particles that are interacting by a field of force (such as a “virtual photon” and used also in the context of an “exchange force”).

(7) In digital technology, real, but existing, seen, or happening online or on a digital screen, rather than in person or in the physical world (actually an adaptation of an earlier use referring to political representation).

(8) In particle physics, pertaining to particles in temporary existence due to the Heisenberg uncertainty principle.

(9) In quantum mechanics, of a quantum state: having an intermediate, short-lived, and unobservable nature.

(10) In computing (of data storage media, operating systems, et al) simulated or extended by software, sometimes temporarily, in such a way as to function and appear to the user as a physical entity.

(11) In computing, of a class member (in object-oriented programming), capable of being overridden with a different implementation in a subclass.

(12) Relating or belonging to virtual reality (once often used as “the virtual environment” and now sometimes clipped to “the virtual”) in which with the use of headsets or masks, experiences to some degree emulating perceptions of reality can be produced with users sometimes able to interact with and change the environment.

(13) Capable of producing an effect through inherent power or virtue (archaic and now rare, even as a poetic device).

(14) Virtuous (obsolete).

(15) In botany, (literally, also figuratively), of a plant or other thing: having strong healing powers; a plant with virtuous qualities (obsolete).

(16) Having efficacy or power due to some natural qualities; having the power of acting without the agency of some material or measurable thing; possessing invisible efficacy; producing, or able to produce, some result; effective, efficacious.

1350–1400: From the Middle English virtual & virtual (there were other spellings, many seemingly ad hoc, something far from unusual), from the Old French virtual & vertüelle (persisting in Modern French as virtuel), from their etymon Medieval Latin virtuālis, the construct being the Classical Latin virtū(s) (of or pertaining to potency or power; having power to produce an effect, potent; morally virtuous (and ultimately the source of the modern English “virtue” from the Latin virtūs (virtue)) + -ālis.  The Latin virtūs was from vir (adult male, man), ultimately from the primitive Indo-European wihrós (man) (the construct of which may have been weyh- (to chase, hunt, pursue) + -tūs (the suffix forming collective or abstract nouns)).  The –alis suffix was from the primitive Indo-European -li-, which later dissimilated into an early version of –āris and there may be some relationship with hel- (to grow); -ālis (neuter -āle) was the third-declension two-termination suffix and was suffixed to (1) nouns or numerals creating adjectives of relationship and (2) adjectives creating adjectives with an intensified meaning.  The suffix -ālis was added (usually, but not exclusively) to a noun or numeral to form an adjective of relationship to that noun. When suffixed to an existing adjective, the effect was to intensify the adjectival meaning, and often to narrow the semantic field.  If the root word ends in -l or -lis, -āris is generally used instead although because of parallel or subsequent evolutions, both have sometimes been applied (eg līneālis & līneāris).  The alternative spellings vertual, virtuall and vertuall are all obsolete.  Virtual is a noun & adjective, virtualism, virtualist, virtualism, virtualness, virtualization (also as virtualisation) & virtuality are nouns, virtualize (also as virtualise) is a verb and virtually is an adverb; the noun plural is virtuals.  The non virtualosity is non-standard.

The special use in physics (pertaining to a theoretical infinitesimal velocity in a mechanical system that does not violate the system’s constraints) came into English directly from the French.  The noun use is derived from the original adjective.  Virtual is commonly used in the sense of being synonymous with “de facto”, something which can now be misleading because “virtue” has become so associated with the modern use related to computing.  In the military matters it has been used as “a virtual victory” to refer to what would by conventional analysis be thought a defeat, the rationale being the political or economic costs imposed on the “winner” were such that the victory was effectively pyrrhic.  It was an alternative to the concept of “tactical defeat; strategic victory” which probably was a little too abstract for some.

"Virtual art galleries" range from portals which enable works to be viewed on any connected device to actual galleries where physical works are displayed on screens or in some 3D form, either as copies or with a real-time connection to the original.   

In computing, although “virtual reality” is the best known use, the word has for some time been used variously.  “Virtual memory” (which nerds insist should be called “virtual addressing” is a software implementation which enables an application to use more physical memory than actually exists.  The idea dates from the days of the early mainframes when the distinction between memory and storage space often wasn’t as explicit as it would later become and it became popular in smaller systems (most obviously PCs) where at a time when the unit cost of RAM (random access memory) hardware was significantly higher than the default storage media of the HDD (hard disk drive).  Behaving as static electricity does, RAM was many orders of magnitude faster than the I/O (input/output) possible on hard disks but allocating a portion of free disk space to emulate RAM (hence the idea “virtual memory”) did make possible many things which would not run were a system able to work only with the installed physical RAM and rapidly it became a mainstream technique.

There’s also the VPN (virtual private network), a technology which creates a secure and encrypted connection over a public network (typically the Internet) and use is common to provide remote access to a private network or to establish a secure tunnel between two networks using the internet for transport.  The advantage of VPNs is they should ensure data integrity and confidentiality, the two (or multi) node authentication requirement making security breaches not impossible but less likely.  Widely used by corporations, VPNs are best known as the way traditionally used to evade surveillance and censorship in certain jurisdictions as diverse as the PRC (People’s Republic of China), the Islamic Republic of Iran and the UK although this is something of an arms race, the authorities with varying degrees of enthusiasm working out way to defeat the work-arounds.  VPNs often use an IP tunnel which is a related concepts but the IP tunnel is a technique used to encapsulate one type of network packet within another type of network packet to transport it over a network that wouldn't normally support the type of packet being transported.  IP tunnels are particularly useful in connecting networks using different protocols and (despite the name), the utility lies in them being able to transport just about any type of network traffic (not just IP).  A modular technology, not all IP tunnels natively provide authentication & encryption but most support “bolt-ons” which can add either or both.  So, while all VPNs use some form of tunnelling (however abstracted), not all tunnels are VPNs.

Microsoft really wanted you to keep their Java Virtual Machine.

Then there are “virtual machines”.  In personal computing, the machine came quickly to be thought of as a box to which a monitor and keyboard was attached and originally it did one thing at a time; it might be able to do many things but not simultaneously.  That situation didn’t long last but the idea of the connection between one function and one machine was carried over to the notion of the “virtual machine” which was software existing on one machine but behaving functionally like another.  This could include even a full-blown installation of the operating systems of several servers running on specialized software (sometimes in conjunction with hardware components) on a singles server.  What made this approach practical was that it is not unusual for a server to be under-utilized for most of its life (critically components often recording 2-3% utilization for extended periods, thus the attraction of using one physical server rather than several.  Obviously, the economic case was also compelling, the cost savings of having one server rather than a number multiplied by reductions in electricity use, cooling needs, insurance premiums and the rent of space.  There was also trickery, Microsoft’s JVM (Java Virtual Machine) an attempt to avoid having to pay licensing fees to Sun Microsystems (later absorbed by Oracle) for the use of a Java implementation.  The users mostly indifferent but while the hardware was fooled, the judges were not and the JVM was eventually declared an outlaw.

Operating a computer remotely (there are few ways to do this) rather than physically being present is sometimes called “virtual” although “remote” seems to have been become more fashionable (the form “telecommuting” used as early as 1968 is as archaic as the copper-pair analogue telephone lines over which it was implemented although “telemedicine” seems to have survived, possibly because in many places voice using an actual telephone remains a part).  In modern use (and the idea of virtual as “not physically existing but made to appear by software” was used as early as 1959), there are all sorts of “virtuals” (virtual personal trainers, virtual assistants et al), the idea in each case is that the functionality offered by the “real version” of whatever is, in whole or in part, emulated but the “virtual version”, the latter at one time also referred to as a “cyberreal”, another word from the industry which never came into vogue.  “Virtual keyboards” are probably the most common virtual device used around the world, now the smartphone standard, the demise of the earlier physical devices apparently regretted only by those with warm memories of their Blackberries.  Virtual keyboards do appear elsewhere and they work, although obviously offer nothing like the tactile pleasure of an IBM Model M (available from ClickyKeyboards.com).  The idea of “a virtual presence” is probably thought something very modern and associated with the arrival of computing but it has history.  In 1766, in the midst of the fractious arguments about the UK’s reaction to the increasing objections heard from the American colonies about “taxation without representation” and related matters (such as the soon to be infamous Stamp Act), William Pitt (1708-1778 (Pitt the Elder and later Lord Chatham); UK prime-minister 1766-1768) delivered a speech in the House of Commons.  Aware his country’s government was conducting a policy as inept as that the US would 200 years on enact in Indochina, his words were prescient but ignored.  Included was his assertion the idea of “…virtual representation of America in this house is the most contemptible idea that ever entered into the head of man and it does not deserve serious refutation.”  However, refute quite seriously just about everything his government was doing he did.  Pitt’s use of the word in this adjectival sense was no outlier, the meaning “being something in essence or effect, though not actually or in fact” dating from the mid-fifteenth century, an evolution of the sense of a few decades earlier when it was used to mean “capable of producing a certain effect”.  The adverb virtually was also an early fifteenth century form in the sense of “as far as essential qualities or facts are concerned while the meaning “in effect, as good as” emerged by the early seventeenth.

Lindsay Lohan's 2021 predictions of the US$ value of Bitcoin (BTC) & Ethereum (ETH).  By April 2024 the trend was still upward so the US$100,000 BTC may happen.  

In general use, the terms “cybercurrency”, “cryptocurrency” & “virtual currency” tend to be used interchangeably and probably that has no practical consequences, all describing electronic (digital) “currencies” which typically are decentralized, the main point of differentiation being that cryptocurrencies claim to be based on cryptographic principles and usually limited in the volume of their issue (although the decimal point makes this later point of little practical significance)  Whether they should be regarded as currencies is a sterile argument because simultaneously they are more and less, being essentially a form of gambling but for certain transactions (such as illicit drugs traded on various platforms), they are the preferred currency and in many jurisdictions they remain fully convertible and it’s telling the values are expressed almost always in US$, “cross-rates” (ie against other cryptocurrencies) rarely quoted.  However, to be pedantic, a “virtual currency” is really any not issued by a central government or authority (in the last one or two centuries-odd usually a national or central bank) and they can include in-game currencies, reward points and, of course, crybercurrencies.  The distinguishing feature of a cryptocurrency is the cryptotography.

Although the term is not widely used, in Christianity, "virtuality" was the view that contrary to the Roman Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation, the bread & wine central to Holy Communion do not literally transform into flesh and blood but are the medium or mechanism through which the spiritual or immaterial essence of the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ are received.  Within the Church, those who espoused or adhered to the heresy of virtuality were condemned as "virtualists.  In philosophy, the concept of virtuality probably sounds something simple to students but of course academic philosophy has a “marginal propensity to confuse”, the important distinction being “virtual” is not opposed to “real” but instead to “actual”, “real” being opposed to “possible”.

Rationale

Rationale (pronounced rash-uh-nal)

(1) The fundamental reason or reasons serving to account for something.

(2) A statement of reasons.

(3) A reasoned exposition of principles, especially one defining the fundamental reasons for a course of action or belief; a justification for action.

(4) A liturgical vestment worn by some Christian bishops of various denominations (now rare), the origin of which is the breastplate worn by Israelite high priests (a translation of λογεῖον (logeîon) or λόγιον (logion) (oracle) in the Septuagint version of Exodus 28)).  The French spelling (rational) of the Latin ratiōnāle was used in Biblical translations.

(5) In engineering, a design rationale is the explicit documentation of the reasons behind decisions made when designing a system; it was once used of what now would be described as a set of parameters.

1650-1660: From the Late Latin ratiōnāle (exposition of principles), nominative singular neuter of ratiōnālis (rational, of reason).  After some early inventiveness, the modern sense "fundamental reason, the rational basis or motive of anything" became standardised during the (1680s).  In the nature of such things, many rationales are constructed ex post facto.  Rationale is a noun; the noun plural is rationales or rationalia.

Prince Metternich & Dr Rudd: illustrating rationale & rational

Portrait of Prince Metternich (1822), miniature on card by Friedrich Lieder (1780-1859).

Rationale and rational are sometimes confused.  A rationale is a process variously of explanation, reason or justification of something that need not be at all rational (although many fashioned ex post facto are re-formulated thus).  To be rational, something must make sense and be capable of being understood by the orthodox, accepted methods of the time.  That something may subsequently be shown to be irrational does not mean it did not at some time appear rational; one can construct a rationale for even something irrational.  To construct a post-Napoleonic Europe, Prince Metternich (Prince Klemens of Metternich-Winneburg zu Beilstein (1773–1859); foreign minister of the Austrian Empire 1809-1848 & chancellor 1821-1848) built a rationale for the Congress of Vienna (1814-1815) that was well understood.  It was vision of a Europe, divided between the great powers, in which was maintained a perpetual balance of power which would ensure peace.  That in the two centuries since, the Congress has attached much criticism, largely for imposing a stultifying air of reaction on the continent, does not render the structure irrational nor detract from Metternich’s rationale.  Some historians have come to regard the congress more fondly and while it’s not true the consequence was a century of peace in Europe, it created a framework which meant a good number of decades in that time were notably less blood-soaked than what came before and certainly what followed.

Dr Rudd at the ceremony to be conferred DPhil, University of Oxford, September, 2022.

By 2009, Kevin Rudd ((b 1957); Prime Minister of Australia 2007-2010 & June-September 2013), having realised being prime-minister was a squandering of intellectual talent, embarked on a re-design of relationships in the Asia-Pacific, structured in a way to suit what was self-evidently obvious: he should assume regional leadership.  These things do happen when folk get carried away.  Not discouraged by the restrained enthusiasm for his good idea, Mr Rudd penned one of his wordy rationales which, to him, must have sounded rational but less impressed was just about everybody else in the region including his own cabinet and it’s difficult to recall any hint of interest from other countries.  Mr Rudd quibbled a bit, claiming his use of the word community was just diplomatic shorthand and he wasn’t suggesting anything like what the EU ever was or had become but just better way of discussing problems.  Anyway, it for a while gave him a chance to use phrases like “ongoing and continuing discussions” and “regional and sub-regional architecture” so there was that.  By 2010 the idea had been allowed quietly to die and he had more pressing problems.

Attaining the premiership was Rudd’s mistake.  Had he never achieved to position he’d probably be spoken of as “the best prime-minister Australia never had” but instead he’s among those (and of late there have been a few) remembered as the Roman historian Tacitus (circa 56–circa 120) in the first volume of his Histories (circa 100) wrote of Galba (3 BC–AD 69; Roman Emperor 68-69): "...omnium consensu capax imperii nisi imperasset" (everyone would have agreed he was qualified for governing if he had not held the office).  His background was as a senior public servant who provided advice to others so they could make decisions and he enjoyed a solid career which was clearly well-suited to his skills.  Unfortunately, when occupying the highest political office in the land, he proved indecisive and too often inclined to refer to committees matters which he should have insisted came to cabinet with the necessary documents.  His other character flaw was he seemed unable to understand there was a difference between “leadership” and “command”, unable to realise there was a difference between the structured hierarchy of the public service and the swirling clatter of politics.  His career in The Lodge (the prime-minister’s official residence in Canberra) can be recalled as the Italian historian and politician Francesco Guicciardini (1483–1540) noted of Pope Clement VII (1478–1534; pope 1523-1534): “…knowledgeable and effective as a  subordinate, he fell victim when in charged to timidity, perplexity and habitual irresolution.”  With that, the Italian writer Piero Vettori (1499–1585) concurred, writing: “From a great and renowned cardinal, he was transformed into a little and despised pope”, a sentiment familiar in the phrase repeated in militaries around the world (outstanding major; average colonel; lousy general) to describe that truism in organizational behaviour: “Everyone gets promoted to their own level of incompetence”.

That aphorism was from The Peter Principle (1970), written by Raymond Hull (1919–1985) and based on the research of Laurence Peter (1919–1990), the idea being someone who proves successful in one role will be promoted and if competent there, they will be promoted again.  However, should they fail, within the hierarchy, that is the point of their incompetence, the implication being that the tendency is, as time passes, more and more positions within a corporation will be filled by the incompetent.  The exceptions of course are (1) those competent souls who for whatever reason decline promotion and (2) the habitually successful who will in theory continue to be promoted until they reach the top and, if they prove competent there, this results in the paradox of the typical corporation being run by someone competent but staffed substantially by the incompetent.  In politics, reaching the top means becoming prime-minister, president or some similar office and as Winston Churchill (1875-1965; UK prime-minister 1940-1945 & 1951-1955) described it: "...if he trips he must be sustained. If he makes mistakes they must be covered. If he sleeps he must not wantonly be disturbed. If he is no good he must be poleaxed.  In one of the more amusing recent episodes in politics, the Australian Labor Party (ALP) decided Dr Rudd had been promoted to the relevant point and poleaxed him, a back-stabbing which remains one of the best organized and executed seen in years.  Subsequently, the party concluded his replacement was even more of a dud and restored Dr Rudd to the job, a second coming which lasted but a few months but that was long enough for him to revenge himself upon the hatchet men responsible for his downfall so there was that.       

Still, after his political career (which can be thought a success because he did did reach the top of the “greasy pole” and the delivered the ALP a handsome election victory although their gratitude was short-lived (a general tendency in democracies noted (sometimes gleefully) by many political scientists)) he has been busy, even if the secretary-generalship of the United Nations (UN) (an office which is an irresistible lure for a certain type) proved elusive.  Recently he became Dr Rudd, awarded Doctorate of Philosophy (DPhil) by the University of Oxford.  His 420 page thesis, written over four years, explores the world view of Xi Jinping (b 1953; general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and paramount leader of the People's Republic of China (PRC) since 2013) and the relationship of his ideology to both the direction taken by the CCP and the links with the thoughts (and their consequences) of Chairman Mao (Mao Zedong 1893–1976; chairman of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) 1949-1976).

Dr Rudd says his thesis argues “…there has been a significant change in China’s ideological worldview under Xi Jinping compared with previous ideological orthodoxies under Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao [and summarises] Xi’s worldview as a new form of ‘Marxist-Leninist Nationalism’”.  Dr Rudd says he preferred “Marxist Nationalism” because “the term contains within it three core propositions”: (1) “Xi’s Leninism has taken both the party and Chinese politics in general to the left” (and he defines “left” for these purposes as “…the reassertion of the power of the party over all public policy as well as elevating the position of the individual leader against the rest of collective leadership”), (2) “Xi’s notion of Marxism has similarly taken the centre of gravity of Chinese economic thought to the left” ("left" in this aspect defined as “…a new priority for party-state intervention in the economy, state-owned enterprises over the private sector and a new ideology of greater income equality”) and (3) “Xi has also taken Chinese nationalism to the right (“right” here meaning “a new assertion of Chinese national power as reflected in a new array of nationalist ‘banner terms’ that are now used in the party’s wider ideological discourse.”)  Dr Rudd views these three forces as “…part of a wider reification of the overall role of ideology under Xi Jinping. This has been seen in the fresh application of Marxist Leninist concepts of dialectical materialism, historical materialism, the primary stage of socialism, contradiction and struggle across the range of China’s current domestic and international challenges. The role of nationalism has also been enhanced within Xi’s new ideological framework. This hybrid form of Marxist Nationalist ideology is also being increasingly codified within the unfolding canon of Xi Jinping thought.” 

“Finally, the thesis argues there is a high degree of correlation between these ideological changes on the one hand and changes in the real world of Chinese politics, economic policy and a more assertive foreign policy on the other - including a different approach to Chinese multilateral policy as observed by diplomatic practitioners at the UN in New York.  The thesis concludes these changes in Xi Jinping’s ideological worldview and its impact on Chinese politics and public policy is best explained by a theoretical framework that integrates Authoritarian Resilience Theory, the realist and constructivist insights of the English School of International Relations Theory, and Foreign Policy Analysis.”  Clearly, Dr Rudd thinks the CCP has come a long way since comrade Stalin (1878-1953; Soviet leader 1924-1953) casually dismissed Maoist theory as “ideologically primitive”.

Since March 2023, Dr Rudd has served as Australian Ambassador to the United States, the announcement of the appointment attracting some speculation there may be a secret protocol to the contract, providing for him to report to the prime-minister rather than the foreign minister.  It was mischievous speculation and there has been little but praise for the solid work he has been doing in the Washington embassy.  Dr Rudd’s role attracted headlines in March 2022 when a interview with Donald Trump (b 1946; US president 2017-2021) was broadcast in which the former president was acquainted (apparently for the first time) with some uncomplimentary assessments Dr Rudd had made of him including describing him “the most destructive president in history” and “a traitor to the West”.

Having doubtless heard and ignored worse over the years, Mr Trump seemed little concerned but did respond in his usual style, observing he didn’t know much about Dr Rudd except he’d heard he was “a little bit nasty” and “not the brightest bulb”, adding “he’d not be there long” if hostile to a second Trump presidency.  Trumpologists analysing these thoughts suggested the mildness of the reaction indicated the matter was unlikely to be pursued were he to return to the Oval Office, noting his habit of tending to ignore or forget about anything except actual threats to his immediate self-interest.  After taking office in 2017, when asked if he would pursue the legal action he’d during the campaign threatened against Bill (b 1946; US president 1993-2001) & crooked Hillary Clinton (b 1947; US secretary of state 2009-2013) (mostly on the basis of crooked Hillary’s crooked crookedness), he quickly brushed it off saying: “No, they’re good people” and moving on.  It’s thought Dr Rudd won't end up in the diplomatic deep-freeze, the most severe version of which is for a host nation to declare a diplomat "persona non grata" (the construct being the Latin persōna (person) + nōn (not) + grāta (from grātus (acceptable)), the consequence of which is an expulsion from the territory and the worst fate he may suffer is not receiving an invitation to a round of golf (something unlikely much to upset him).  Others however should be worried, in a second Trump White House, there will be vengeance.

Like "diplomatic toothache" and "null & void", the phrase "persona non gratia" has become part of general language, the utility being in few words describing what would otherwise take many more.  Impressionistically, it would seem "troubled starlets" are more than most declared "persona non gratia".