Mercenary & Condottiere

Mercenary (pronounced mur-suh-ner-ee)

(1) Working or acting merely for money or other reward; venal; influenced by greed or desire for gain (now less common except in fields like professional politics or corporate structures).

(2) Hired to serve in a foreign army, guerrilla organization etc; a professional soldier hired to serve in a foreign army.

(3) Any hireling (now rare).

(4) In figurative use, one paid to use skills in an ideological, political or commercial conflict in which they have otherwise no interest (often applied in a derogatory sense).

1350–1400: From the Middle English mercenarie (one who works only for hire, one who has no higher motive to work than love of gain), from the thirteenth century Old French mercenaire (mercenary, hireling) from the Latin mercēnnārius (working for pay, hired worker, mercenary, thought perhaps related to the earlier mercēnārius, the construct being mercēdin- (stem of mercēdō, a by-form of mercēs (wages), from mercēd- (payment, wage (akin to merx (goods) and source of the modern merchant)) + -ārius- (ary) (feminine -āria, neuter -ārium), the Latin first/second-declension suffix used to form adjectives from nouns or numerals. 

The original meaning was "working or acting for reward, serving only for gain", hence the association with "sordid motives; ready to accept dishonorable gain", a sense noted from the 1530s.  The most familiar use in modern English, describing the age-old profession, that of "a professional soldier available for hire by any (often foreign) service able to pay" is from the mid-seventeenth century.  Though once use as a neutral descriptor the connotations, of civilians and the military, now almost always tend to the negative.  Mercenary is a noun and adjective, mercenarily is an adverb and mercenariness is a noun.  While not always exactly synonymous, related words include acquisitive, selfish, unscrupulous, warrior, grasping, hireling, legionnaire, slave, avaricious, bribable, corrupt, covetous, grabby, miserly, money-grubbing, sordid, stingy, unethical, unprincipled & venal; those in the opposite sense being altruistic, idealistic & unselfish.  The noun plural is mercenaries.

Condottiere: (pronounced kawn-duh-tyair-ey, kawn-duh--tyair-ee (Italian: kawn-dawt-tye-re))

(1) A leader of a private band of mercenary soldiers in Italy, especially between the thirteenth & sixteenth centuries.

(2) Often (though technically imprecise) used to describe any mercenary; soldier of fortune.

1794: From the Italian condotto (leadership), from condurre (to lead), the construct being condott(o) (from the Latin conductus (hired man, past participle of condūcere (to conduce (source of the modern conduct)) + -iere (from the Latin suffix –ārius (-ary).  The noun plural is condottieri or the anglicized condottieres.  The verb conduce dates from circa 1400 although the original sense "to lead, to conduct" is now obsolete.  It was from the Latin condūcere (to lead or bring together, contribute, serve), from an assimilated form of com (with, together) + ducere (to lead (from the primitive Indo-European root deuk- (to lead).  The intransitive sense of "aid in or contribute toward a result" is from the 1580s.

Statute of Garibaldi (1895) by Ettore Ximenes (1855–1926) & Augusto Guidini (1853-1928) in Largo Cairoli, Milan.

Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807-1882) was an Italian nationalist general and politician.  As a condottiere, Garibaldi has been called the "hero of the two worlds" because of his military enterprises in Brazil, Uruguay and Europe and is best remembered for his personal command of many of the military campaigns which led eventually to Italian unification in 1871.  His reputation as a romantic revolutionary has flourished because historians have seemed always anxious to present his military adventures as noble causes rather than apply the standards imposed on others, certainly since the Nuremberg trial (1945-1946) codified matters such as “planning aggressive wars” and “waging aggressive wars”.  Clearly, when deciding where things lie on the shifting spectrum of international morality, context matters.

Garibaldi and the Garibaldians (1907) by Plinio Nomellini (1866–1943).

Garibaldi was certainly an appealing actor in a drama-filled century of European history.  Even had he felt the political unification of the peninsular was either desirable or inevitable, Count Cavour (1810–1861), prime ,inister of Piedmont–Sardinia, showed no interest in pursuing the matter because, as an astute politician of what would come to be known as the power-realist school, knew the difficulties were insurmountable and the implications of any attempt to achieve the goal were likely dark.  Garibaldi was interested in a united Italy, believed in miracles and knew they could make real the the impossible.  The unusual combination of circumstances at home and abroad which existed in the aftermath of all that had happened between the Congress of Vienna (1814-1815) and the revolutions of 1848 were made Garibaldi’s project actually possible but it was the natural genius he possessed as a condottiere which assured success.  Notably, Cavour, sniffing the political winds stirred when suddenly Garibaldi was by revolutionary means unifying Italy from the south in a way Cavour knew couldn’t be achieved by diplomatic means from the north, staged what would now be called a political flip-flop, ceasing trying to thwart Garibaldi and instead claimed the whole campaign was his policy.

Lindsay Lohan in garibaldino shirt.

Garibaldi’s part in the movement for Italian unification (known as il Risorgimento (Rising Again)) also produced a footnote in para-military fashion.  His followers were known as the Garibaldini and in lieu of a uniform, they wore the red shirts he favored, the popular legend being it was to ensure they weren’t distracted from fighting were their blood to be spilled.  It was also an indication the campaign was a popular insurrection, not one fought by conventional military maneuvers or with traditional formations because, as the red-coated British soldiers had discovered, red wasn’t a good color to wear on a battlefield.  The word Garibaldino (plural Garibaldini) is used to refer to any volunteer soldier who served in the cause and the red shirts (which were never standardized in shade, style or cut) are often called garibaldino shirts or just garibaldinos.

The Swiss Guard

One of the oldest military formations in continuous active service, The Pontificia Cohors (Pontifical Swiss Guard; also often referred to as Papal Guard or, most commonly, Swiss Guard) is the ceremonial and armed force of the Holy See.  Based in the Vatican, it provides security for the Pope and Apostolic Palace.  The tradition of The Swiss Guard can be traced back to the pontificate of Sixtus IV (1414-1484; pope 1471-1484) when an alliance was formed with the Swiss Confederacy, barracks built in the Papal States should the need arise to hire Swiss mercenaries.  The treaty was renewed under subsequent popes and the guard did see active service at times when the pope was in alliance with France but it was under the Borgia popes of the late fifteenth century it was reorganized as a conventional military formation, fielded not only by the Holy See but used also to augment the armies of France and the Holy Roman Empire.  Their performance in battle during the war between France and Naples was noted by Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere (1443-1513; pope 1503-1513), a military-minded priest later nicknamed the warrior pope, his name chosen to render honor unto Julius Caesar.  Upon assuming the papacy as Julius II, he requested the Swiss Diet (parliament) furnish a battalion (about two-hundred soldiers) of mercenaries for his protection.  They entered barracks in 1506 and this is regarded as the formation of the Papal Swiss Guard.

Although from time-to-time the guard has been disbanded, once, after heavy battlefield losses even replaced for a while by German mercenaries, they’ve been an almost constant presence in the Holy See ever since.  Having long ceased to be a military unit, their increasingly ceremonial role was reassessed in the late twentieth century as the threat profile evolved.  The guard is now a professional security and personal protection operation, all members having undergone firearms and related training in the Swiss army.

Pope Francis (b 1936; pope since 2013) inspects the Swiss Guard.

The colors blue and yellow have been used since the sixteenth century and are believed to represent the Della Rovere coat of arms of Pope Julius II (1443–1513; pope 1503-1513); the red added to represent the Medici coat of arms of Pope Leo X (1475–1521; pope 1513-1521).

Mug

Mug (pronounced muhg)

(1) A drinking cup, usually cylindrical in shape, having a handle, and often of a heavy substance, as earthenware; the quantity it holds.

(2) In slang, the face; an exaggerated facial expression; grimace, as in acting; the mouth (mostly archaic).

(3) A thug, ruffian or other criminal (archaic).

(4) To assault or menace, especially with the intention of robbery.

(5) In slang (especially in law enforcement & correctional services), to photograph (a person), especially in compliance with an official or legal requirement.

(6) A stupid, gullible or incompetent person.

(7) In slang (Britain, Australia, Singapore), to learn or review a subject as much as possible in a short time (largely archaic, replaced by cram).

1560–1570: Mug was originally Scots and northern English, denoting an earthenware pot or jug.  In the sense of the small, usually cylindrical drinking vessel, origin was probably Scandinavian; there was the Swedish mugg (earthen cup, jug) and the Norwegian & Danish mugge (pitcher; open can for warm drinks; drinking cup), the sense “face” apparently transferred from the cups because they tended often to be adorned with grotesque faces and from the same source presumably was the Low German mokke & mukke, the German Low German Muck and the Dutch mok.  The relationship to the Old Norse múgr (mass, heap (of corn)) and the Old English muga (stack) is speculative.  The derisive term “mug-hunter”, attested from 1883) was applied to those entering sporting contests solely to win prizes (because they were often in the form of engraved cups).  Mug is a noun, verb & adjective; the noun plural is mugs.

The use to describe a person's mouth or face dates from 1708, thought an extended sense of mug based on the old drinking mugs shaped like grotesque faces, popular in England from the seventeenth century.  The sense of a "portrait or photograph in police records" spread universally with the growth in photography, the first known reference in the Annual Report of the [Boston Massachusetts] Chief of Police for 1873, when it was noted a notorious criminal who had for years been plying his trade all over the country attributed his arrest to “that ‘mug’ of mine that sticks in your gallery”.  Despite that, mug-shot seems to have been used only since 1950.  The meaning "stupid or incompetent person, dupe, fool, sucker" was part of underworld slang by 1851 and was commonly used to describe a criminal in the late nineteenth century, the phrase “mug's game” to describe some foolish, thankless or unprofitable activity emerged around the same time.  The use since 1846 to describe an assault was influenced probably by it meaning "to beat up" (originally "to strike the face) in pugilism since 1818 and this seems to have led to the modern meaning of “mugging” as an attack upon the person of another with intent to rob; that’s noted from 1964.  Some on-line dictionaries list mug in the African-American vernacular as a euphemism for motherfucker (usually in similes, eg "like a mug" or "as a mug").  In Australia, those for whom their only connection with horse racing is to once a year place a bet on the Melbourne Cup are known as "mug punters" but there has been research which suggests choosing a horse on the basis of the horse's name, the color of the jockey's silks (or some other apparently unrelated criterion) can be successful in up to 20% of cases.

Lindsay Lohan mug-shot merchandise is available in a variety of forms.  There are mouse mats, socks, coasters, throw pillows, T-shirts, coffee mugs, face-masks, A-line dresses, hoodies and throw blankets.

Socks are US$19 a pair or US$17 for two / US$15 for three.  The throw blanket is available in three sizes: Small, 40x56 inches (1010x760mm) @ US$28; Medium, 112x94 inches (152x127 cm) @ US$43; Large, 80x60 inches (203x152cm) @ US$56.  Lightweight hoodies are available in sizes from XS-3XL, all at US$39.  T-Shirts are available in sizes XS-XXL for US$7-17.  Coasters are available in a packs of four for US$15. Mug-shot Mugs are available with either individual (with date of photo on reverse side) or multiple mug-shots from US$10-$22 with a discount for volume purchase.  Facemasks are from US$12 with discounts if purchased in packs of four.  A-Line dresses are available in sizes XXS-4XL for US$56.

Three approaches to the mug-shot aesthetic: Jenna Ellis (left), Rudy Giuliani (centre) & Donald Trump (right).

The recent release of the mug shots of Donald Trump and a number of his co-accused attracted comments about the range of expressions the subjects choose for the occasion.  Legal commentators made the point it's actually not a trivial matter because prosecutors, judges and juries all often are exposed to a defendant's mug-shot and the photograph may have some influence on their thoughts and while judges are trained to avoid this, the effect may still be subliminal.  Also, apart from the charges being faced, in the internet age, mug-shots sometimes go viral and modelling careers have been launched from their publication so for the genetically fortunate, there's some incentive to make the effort to look one's smoldering best.

The consensus appeared to be the best approach is to adopt a neutral expression which expresses no levity and indicates one is taking the matter seriously.  On that basis, Lindsay Lohan was either well-advised or was a natural as one might expect from one accustomed to the camera's lens.  Among Donald Trump's alleged co-conspirators there was a range of approaches and the consensus of the experts approached for comment seemed to be that Rudy Giuliani's (b 1944) was close to perfect as one might expect from a seasoned prosecutor well-acquainted with the RICO (Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) legislation he'd so often used against organized crime in New York City.  Many of the others pursued his approach to some degree although there was the odd wry smile.  Some though were outliers such as Jenna Ellis (b 1984) who smiled as if she was auditioning for a spot on Fox News and, of course, some of the accused may be doing exactly that.  However, the stand-out was Donald Trump (b 1946; US president 2017-2021) who didn't so much stare as scowl and it doubtful if his mind was on the judge or jury, his focus wholly on his own image of strength and defiance and the run-up to the 2024 presidential election.  Regaining the White House wouldn't automatically provide Mr Trump with the mechanisms to solve all his legal difficulties but it'd be at least helpful.  In the short term Trump mug-shot merchandize is available, the Trump Save America JFC (joint fundraising committee) disclosing the proceeds from the sales of Trump mug-shot merchandize will be allocated among the committees thus: 90% to Donald J. Trump for President 2024, Inc (2024 primary election) & 10% to Save America while any contribution exceeding the legal amount that may be contributed to either of the committees will be allocated to Donald J. Trump for President 2024, Inc (2024 general election).

Catawampus

Catawampus (pronounced kat-uh-wom-puhs)

(1) Out of alignment, in disarray or disorder; crooked, askew, awry.

(2) Positioned diagonally; cater-cornered; obliquely.

(3) Of fierce demeanor or appearance (archaic).

1830s: A US colloquialism which originally meant “utterly” or “of fierce demeanor or appearance”, apparently influenced by (wild)cat + rumpus or the fierce looking catamount (cougar, puma, lynx).  As a noun, the US use described “a fierce imaginary animal, a bogeyman”.  The rapid meaning shift to “positioned diagonally” (which influenced the later use to mean “askew; awry” is explained by the construct being cata- (diagonally (from cater-cornered)) + -wampus.  The alternative spellings recorded include caddywompus, caliwampus, caliwampous, cankywampus catawamptious and (influenced by cat, catty, kitty) cattywampus, catiwampus, cattywampous; kittywampus, kittywumpus.  The synonyms include askew, awry, crooked, off-kilter, skewampus & skiwampus.  Catawampus is an adjective & adverb (and historically a noun); the noun plural was catawampuses.

Kitty corner.

The term “cater-cornered” dates from the early nineteenth century and has an archaic feel but is still in use variously as kitty-cornered, catty-cornered & caddy-cornered, depending on the region; catty-corner is the form most often used in the UK while kitty-corner prevails in North America and although it’s rare anywhere, caddy-corner seems to know no boundaries.  It has nothing to do with felines and refers to something which lies in a position diagonally across from something else and can be applied to streets, rooms, or any other space or place where the requisite corners exist.  As a descriptor of location, it’s dependent not on proximity but the diagonality of the relationship; a building might be within a few feet of the one beside or on the opposite side of the street but to be catty-cornered, it need not be all that close, just in the right place.

Catawampus: At this intersection, buildings one & four and buildings two & three are catawamptic and thus catty or kitty cornered.

Catty-cornered is said to have been the original version, from the French quatre (four), meaning four.  Quatre was from the Old French quatre, qatre & catre, from the Latin quattuor, from the primitive Indo-European ketwóres and was picked up by a number of European languages including the Catalan quatre, the Italian quattro, the Portuguese quatro and the Spanish cuatro.  In English, quatre became cater, used to showcase the four spots on a die or the four legs of a beast and, as cater-cornered, the four corners created where two streets cross.  From here, the term evolved to describe the buildings positioned diagonally from each-other on those corners, like the opposite corners on a square die.  Then, cater-cornered evolved as catty-corner, kitty-corner and caddy-corner, something not uncommon at a time when regionalisms were much more common.  Wampus was US slang for a lout or yokel but the use may have been a corruption of the archaic Scottish wampish which, when used as an intransitive verb, meant “to wriggle, twist, swerve or flop about (a la a swimming fish).

Catawampic mug shots; the concept able to be applied to just about any diagonal relationship: Here, Lindsay Lohan & Donald Trump are kitty-cornered and Bill Gates & Rudy Giuliani are kitty-cornered.

Some sources suggest the earliest use appears to have been the adverbial catawampusly (1834) which expressed no specific meaning but was an intensifier meaning “utterly, completely; with avidity, fiercely, eagerly”.  The noun as catawampus dates from 1843 when it was used as a name for an imaginary hobgoblin, a fierce imaginary animal or a bogeyman (and even a sense of fright), perhaps from influence of catamount (cougar, puma, lynx).  The adjective was used since the 1840s as an intensive but etymologists caution the use was almost exclusively in British publications lampooning the Americanisms in US English.  By 1864 it has come to mean “askew, awry, wrong” but the regionalism which most spread was that in North Carolina (dating from 1873) which meant “in a diagonal position, on a bias, crooked” and that persists to this day.  This orthodox etymology is generally accepted but because documentary evidence of the origin is lacking, it really is all speculative and etymologists note catawampus may well have been one of the many jocular, pseudo-classical formations popular in the slang of mid-nineteenth century America.

Trends of use of "kitty-corner" & "catty-corner" in the US, one of a series of statistical representations by Joshua Katz, Department of Statistics, North Carolina State University.  Catty-corner is the preferred form south of the Mason-Dixon Line but it fades from use in Florida, reflecting presumably the inward migration pattern from the northern states.

Adultery

Adultery (pronounced uh-duhl-tuh-ree)

Voluntary sexual intimacy between a married person and someone other than his or her lawful spouse.

1325-1375: From the Middle English adulterie, from the Classical Latin adulterium (voluntary violation of the marriage bed).  Adulterie replaced an earlier Middle English form advouterie, drawn from the Old French avoutrie.  So, construct was: adulterie, altered (as if directly from Latin adulterium) from avoutrie, via Old French from Latin adulterium, from adulter, back formation from adulterāre.  Modern spelling, with the re-inserted -d, is from early fifteenth century.  Interestingly, in Middle English, word also applied even to "sex between husband and wife for recreational purposes”, sex for other than procreation being regarded by the church as idolatry, perversion and heresy.  The church variously classified the sin as single adultery (with an unmarried person) and double adultery (with a married person).  In Old English the word was æwbryce (breach of lawful marriage), drawn from the German Ehebruch.  As one might imagine, the tradition of adultery goes way back and so does the condemnation by clerics and others; it is of course proscribed by one of the Ten Commandments (coming in usually at 6 or 7 in most translations) in the Christian Bible and the ever zealous Leviticus (at 20:10) spelled out the consequences: If there is a man who commits adultery with another man's wife, one who commits adultery with his friend's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.

In the US, Adultery Dune in Arizona corresponds to the Navajo sei adilehe (adultery sand), the place where, prior to European settlement, illicit lovers met.  It’s apparently something between Hampstead Heath and Death Valley as depicted in Michelangelo Antonioni’s (1912-2007) Zabriskie Point (1970).  Everyone should see Zabriskie Point before they die.

Double Adultery: Cheryl Kernot & Gareth Evans.

Although adultery can be a difficult, complicated business, two avoid things ending badly, there are really two options.  One is not to commit adultery because, in the words of  English author, Arthur Hugh Clough (1819-1861), "advantage rarely comes of it."  Option two is not to get caught but there is a long list of politicians who made the greatest mistake of all: getting caught.  Although adultery seemed once almost obligatory (and once also tolerated) for French politicians great and humble, in the English-speaking world, it's always a scandal.  Of late, we’ve had the helpfully named Anthony Weiner (b 1964), Bill Clinton (b 1946; US president 1993-2001) who had only himself to blame and Sir John Major (b 1943; UK prime-minister 1990-1997) who really must be admired; an affair with Edwina Currie (b 1946) hardly being safe-sex.  Jim Cairns (1914–2003) perjured himself while lying about his affair and John Profumo (1915–2006) committed adultery with Christine Keeler (1942–2017) while she was enjoying another adulterous affair with a Russian spy.  While leader of the opposition, Ben Chifley (1885–1951; prime minister of Australia 1945 to 1949) told the prime-minister he was going home to read a detective story, dying that night in the company of his mistress; men wept at the news of his death.  John Kennedy's (JFK, 1917–1963; US president 1961-1963) adultery was (within the beltway), famous even at the time and David Lloyd George (1863–1945; UK prime-minister 1916-1922) blatantly took his mistress to the Paris Peace Conference in 1919; one author claimed even the long-assumed faithful Winston Churchill (1875-1965; UK prime-minister 1940-1945 & 1951-1955) may have strayed.  Doing his bit, Gareth Evans (b 1944; Australian Labor Party (ALP) senator or MP 1978-1999, sometime attorney-general & foreign minister) had an affair with then Democrats leader Cheryl Kernot (b 1948) who subsequently rated on them and joined the ALP although whether that was because or in spite of Gareth’s adulterous caresses has never been clear.

End of the line for Sir Billy Snedden.

Most illustrious are those said to have died on the job, expiring usually in hotel rooms following heart-attacks or strokes.  The list includes the 70 year old Nelson Rockefeller (1908-1979; US vice-president 1974-1977) who was with a 25 year old aide and the 76 year old Albert Speer (1905–1981; Nazi court architect 1934-1942; Nazi minister of armaments and war production 1942-1945) who was in the company of an admirer of 37.  Lord Palmerston (1784-1865; variously UK prime-minister or foreign secretary on several occasions 1830-1865) is rumoured to have died on a billiard table with a housemaid and Pope John XII (circa 933–964; pope 955-964) is said to have died in circumstances not dissimilar.  Famously, Sir Billy Snedden (1926–1987), at 61, breathed his last in a Travelodge at Sydney's Rushcutter’s Bay with a somewhat younger woman who was his son’s ex-girlfriend, an event recorded by what was perhaps the Melbourne Truth's most memorable front page.  Remarkably, despite decades of speculation, her identity has never publicly been confirmed.

Former Australian Country Party leader Barnaby Joyce (b 1967; thrice (between local difficulties) deputy prime minister of Australia 2016-2022).

Mr Joyce joined a long line of adulterous politicians who made the greatest mistake of all: getting caught.  He's pictured here escorting wife to the parliament's mid-winter ball (left) and casting his mistress an admiring glance (right).  The whip he carried was thought a photo-opportunity prop, an allusion to his role as a rural member of the house of representatives rather than an indication of any proclivities.

Cosmopolitan

Cosmopolitan (pronounced koz-muh-pol-i-tn)

(1) One free from local, provincial, or national ideas, prejudices, or attachments; an internationalist.

(2) One with the characteristics of a cosmopolite.

(3) A cocktail made with vodka, cranberry juice, an orange-flavored liqueur, and lime juice.

(4) Sophisticated, urbane, worldly.

(5) Of plants and animals, wildly distributed species.

(6) Common name for the vanessa cardui butterfly. 

1828:  An adoption in Modern English, borrowed from the French cosmopolite (citizen of the world), ultimately derived from the Ancient Greek kosmopolitēs (κοσμοπολίτης), the construct being kósmos (κόσμος) (world) + politēs (πολίτης) (citizen); word being modeled on metropolitan.  The US magazine Cosmopolitan was first published in 1886.

An aspect of Soviet Cold War policy under comrade Stalin

The phrase rootless cosmopolitans was coined in the nineteenth century by Vissarion Belinsky (1811-1848), a Russian literary critic much concerned about Western influences on both Russian literature and society.  He applied it to writers he felt “…lacked Russian national character” but as a pejorative euphemism, it’s now an anti-Semitic slur and one most associated with domestic policy in the Soviet Union (USSR) between 1946 and comrade Stalin’s death in 1953.  Stalin (1878–1953; leader of the USSR 1922–1953) liked the phrase and applied it to the Jews, a race of which he was always suspicious because he thought their lack of a homeland made them “mystical, intangible and other-worldly”.  Not a biological racist like Hitler and other rabid anti-Semites, Stalin’s enemies were those he perceived a threat; Leon Trotsky (1879-1940), Grigory Zinoviev (1883–1936) and Lev Kamenev (1883–1936) were disposed of not because they were Jewish but because Stalin thought they might threaten his hold on power although the point has been made that while it wasn’t because he was Jewish that Trotsky was murdered, many Jews would come to suffer because Stalin associated them with Trotsky.

Comrade Stalin signing death warrants.

It was the same with institutions.  He found disturbing the activities of Moscow’s Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee (JAC) and did not approve them being accepted by Western governments as representing the USSR.  Further, he feared the JAC’s connections with foreign powers might create a conduit for infiltration by Western influences; well Stalin knew the consequences of people being given ideas; the campaign of 1946-1953 was thus more analogous with the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) opposition to the Falun Gong rather than the pogroms of Tsarist times.  Authoritarian administrations don’t like independent organisations; politics needs to be monolithic and control absolute.  In a speech in Moscow in 1946, he described certain Jewish writers and intellectuals, as “rootless cosmopolitans” accusing them of a lack of patriotism, questioning their allegiance to the USSR.  This theme festered but it was the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, fostering as it did an increased self consciousness among Soviet Jews, combined with the Cold War which turned Stalin into a murderous anti-Semite.

Rootless cosmopolitan Comrade Trotsky, murdered with an ice axe on comrade Stalin's orders.

Before the formation of the state of Israel, Stalin's anti-Semitism was more a Russian mannerism than any sort of obsession.  For years after assuming absolute power in the USSR, he expressed no disquiet at the preponderance of Jews in the foreign ministry and it was only in 1939, needing a temporary diplomatic accommodation with Nazi Germany, that he acted.  Having replaced the Jewish Foreign Commissar, Maxim Litvinov (1876–1951; People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union 1930–1939) with Vyacheslav Molotov (1890-1986; USSR Minister of Foreign Affairs 1939-1949 & 1953-1956), he ordered him to purge the diplomatic corps of Jews, his memorable phrase being "clean out the synagogue".  Concerned the presence of Jews might be an obstacle to rapprochement with Hitler, Stalin had the purge effected with his usual efficiency: many were transferred to less conspicuous roles and others were arrested or shot.

Meeting of minds: Joachim von Ribbentrop (left), comrade Stalin (centre) and comrade Molotov (right), the Kremlin, 23 August 1939.

Negotiations began in the summer of 1939, concluding with German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop (1893–1946; Nazi foreign minister 1938-1945) leading a delegation to Moscow to meet with Molotov and Stalin.  It proved a remarkably friendly conference of political gangsters and agreement was soon reached, the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact (usually called the Nazi-Soviet Pact or Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact) being signed on 23 August.  The pact contained also a notorious secret protocol by which the two dictators agreed to a carve-up of Poland consequent upon the impending Nazi invasion and the line dividing Poland between the two was almost identical to the Curzon Line, a demarcation between the new Polish Republic created in the aftermath of World War I (1914-1918) and the emergent Soviet Union which had been proposed by Lord Curzon (1859–1925; UK foreign secretary 1919-1924).  At the Yalta Conference in 1945, during the difficult negotiations over Polish borders, Molotov habitually referred to "the Curzon Line" and the UK Foreign Secretary, Anthony Eden (1897–1977; thrice UK foreign secretary & prime minister 1955-1957), in a not untypically bitchy barb, observed it was more common practice to call it the “Molotov-Ribbentrop line”.  "Call it whatever you like" replied Stalin, "we still think it's fair and just".  Comrade Stalin rarely cared much to conceal the nature of the regime he crafted in his own image.  When asked by Franklin Roosevelt (FDR, 1882–1945, US president 1933-1945) if Molotov had been to New York during his visit to the US, Stalin replied: "No, he went to Chicago to be with the other gangsters".

Whatever the motives of Stalin, rootless cosmopolitans has joined the code of dog-whistle politics, a part of the core demonology to label the Jews a malign race, a phrase in the tradition of Christ killer, Rothschild-Capitalist and Untermenschen (the sub-humans).  Despite that, there are always optimists, Jewish writer Vincent Brook (b 1946), suggesting the term could convey the positive, a suggestion the Jews possess an “adaptability and empathy for others”.  It’s not a view widely shared and rootless cosmopolitan remains an anti-Semitic trope although it's not unknown for Jews to use it ironically.

Lindsay Lohan, Cosmopolitan, various international editions: April, May & June, 2006.

Cosmopolitan Magazine was launched in 1886 as a family journal of fashion, household décor, cooking, and other domestic interests.  It survived in a crowded market but its publisher did not and within two years Cosmopolitan was taken over by another which added book reviews and serialized fiction to the content.  This attracted the specialist house founded by John Brisben Walker (1847-1931), which assumed control in 1889, expanding its circulation twenty-fold to become one of America’s most popular literary magazines.  The Hurst Corporation acquired the title in 1905, briefly adding yellow-journalism before settling on a format focused on short fiction, celebrities and public affairs.  The formula proved an enduring success, circulation reaching two million by 1940 and this was maintained until a decline began in the mid 1950s, general-interest magazines being squeezed out by specialist titles and the time-consuming steamroller of television.

It was the appointment in 1965 of Helen Gurley Brown (1922–2012) as editor which signalled Cosmopolitan’s shift to a magazine focused exclusively on an emerging and growing demographic with high disposable income: the young white women of the baby boom.  In what proved a perfect conjunction, a target market with (1) economic independence, (2) social freedom, (3) an embryonic feminist awareness and (4) the birth control pill, the magazine thrived, surviving even the rush of imitators its success spawned.  Gurley Brown had in 1962 published the best seller advice manual, Sex and the Single Girl and Cosmopolitan essentially, for decades, reproduced variations on the theme in a monthly, glossy package.  It was clearly a gap in the market.  The approach was a success but there was criticism.  Conservatives disliked the choices in photography and the ideas young women were receiving.  Feminists were divided, some approved but others thought the themes regressive, a retreat from the overtly political agenda of the early movement into something too focused on fun and fashion, reducing women yet again to objects seeking male approbation.

Still published in many international editions, Cosmopolitan Australia was one casualty of market forces, closed after a final printing in December 2018.  However, surprising many, Katarina Kroslakova (b 1978) in April 2024 announced her publishing house KK Press, in collaboration with New York-based Hearst Magazines International, would resume production of Cosmopolitan Australia as a bi-monthly, the first edition of the relaunched version scheduled for release in August 2024.  Other than appearing in six issues per year rather than the traditional twelve, the format is expected to be much the same, echoing Elle Australia which reappeared on newsstands in March, ending a four-year hiatus.  Both revivals would have surprised industry analysts as recently as 2023 when the conventional wisdom was the post-Covid, social media age was no longer the place for time consuming and expensive glossy titles.  Ms Kroslakova clearly sees a business model and was quoted as saying print magazines are “the new social media” which was an interesting way of putting it but she explained the appeal by adding: “We need that 15 minutes to drop everything and actually have something tangible and beautiful in our hands to consume.  If we can present content which is multi-layered and deep and has authenticity and connection with the reader – that’s a really excellent starting point.”  She may have a point because in an age where screen-based content is intrinsically impermanent, the tactile pleasure of the traditional glossy may have genuine appeal, at least for an older readership who can remember the way things used to be done, something perhaps hinted at by her “15 minutes” reference, now regarded by many media analysts as a long-term connection.  The revival of the print editions of Elle and Cosmopolitan will be an interesting experiment in a difficult economic environment which may get worse before it gets better.  Whether the novelty will attract enough of the "affluent readers" (what used to be called the A1, A2 & B1 demographic) to convince advertisers that it's a place to run their copy will likely decide the viability of the venture and while it's not impossible that will happen, Cosmopolitan is a couple of points down from the "prestige" titles which have maintained an advertising base.   

Elan

Elan (pronounced ay-lahn (U) or e-lan (non-U))

(1) Dash; impetuous ardor; a combination of style and vigour.

(2) In astronomy, as ELAN, the acronym of Enormous Lyman-Alpha Nebula (large gas cloud (nebula) larger than galaxies, found in intergalactic space).

1875–1880: From the Modern French élan, from the Middle French eslan (a dash, rush), noun derivative of éslancer to (dart).  Élan was thus a deverbal of élancer, the construct being é- (from the Old French es-, from Latin ex- & ē- (the prefix indicating away, moving away from) +‎ lan(cer) (from Old French lancier, from the Late Latin lanceāre, present active infinitive of lanceō, from the Latin lancea.  It was related to the Catalan llançar, the Italian lanciare, the Occitan and Portuguese lançar and the Spanish lanzar.  The sense is best understood by comparison with the French élancer (to throw forth) from the Classical Latin lancea (lance), the Roman auxiliaries' short javelin; a light spear or lance.  Ultimate root is thought to be Celtic/Celtiberian, possibly from the primitive Indo-European plehzk- (to hit) and connected also to the Ancient λόγχη (lónkhē).  Elan is a noun. 

Lindsay Lohan in hijab and halal make-up at the inaugural London Modest Fashion Week (LMFW), staged by London-based fashion house Haute Elan, February 2018.

Haute Elan is an interesting example of the novel corporate structures made possible by the distributed connectivity of the internet, acting as an umbrella organization for designers and distributers (output) and a kind of clearing house, offering a conduit for access and enquiries by media and customers (input).  For designers, the attraction is the association with a platform which can reduce the cost of promotional activities while allowing a brand to be built.  Pragmatically, it also limits the the consequences of failure.

The companion word is the noun éclat (brilliant display or effect), also used by Lotus as a model name (Types 76 & 84; 1975-1982).  For elan, there’s really no exact single-word synonym in English, the closest including animation, ardor, dash, flair, impetus, life, oomph, panache, spirit, style, verve, vigor, vim, zest, zing, brio, esprit & impetuosity.  The usual spelling in English is elan and it’s often used with a modifier (eg “a certain elan”); the alternative spelling is the French élan.  The alternative spelling is the French élite and use of the French pronunciation the "U" ay-lahn rather than the "non-U" e-lan is one of the "class identifiers" on which readers of publications like Country Life focus when meeting folk.  To avoid the condemnation of pedants, the French spelling élan is recommended

The Lotus Elan

1962 Lotus Elan S1 DHC.

Lotus introduced the Elan in 1962, production continuing in four series until 1973, a companion four-seat (though really a 2+2) version made for a further two years.  Unlike the its predecessor, the exquisite Elite, the Elan would be offered as a convertible, the range adopting the English nomenclature of the time, the roadster a drop-head coupé (DHC, Type 26 (later 45)) and the closed version, introduced in 1966, a fixed-head coupé (FHC, Type 36).  

Lotus Elan chassis.

Abandoning the expensive and troublesome monocoque shell of the Elite, the Elan used a steel backbone chassis, the body this time a multi-piece affair, made again from fibreglass but using techniques which made it cheaper to manufacturer while maintaining quality; Lotus would use this method of construction for almost three decades.  Just as important was that for the first time, there would be imposed some rigor in standardization and production-line rationalization.  Profits flowed.  The Elan's pair of Rotoflex "doughnut" couplings are here visible on each side of the differential.

Overcoming the fragility of the Elite did come a cost and that was weight, the 1,500 lb (680 kg) Elan heavier by about 385 lb (175 kg) but by any other standard, the new car was still lithe and to compensate, there was more power.  One prototype Elite had been built the new 1.5 litre "Lotus Twin Cam" engine, based on the mundane but lively and tough Ford Kent four-cylinder unit (the "Kent"), transformed by the addition of an in-house designed, aluminum double overhead camshaft (DOHC) head and this was adopted as the Elan’s power-plant.  In the Lotus community, some regard the two-dozen odd 1.5 litre cars built as something like prototypes, all subsequent Elans built with 1.6 litre engines although the specifications and power outputs would vary according to improvements made and detuning demanded by emission control laws in some markets.   Like the Kent itself, the DOHC would enjoy a long life in both Ford and Lotus vehicles.   

Mrs Emma Peel (Diana Rigg (1938–2020)) in The Avengers (1965–1968) with her 1966 Lotus Elan S3 DHC (previously she had driven a white S2).

With the release of S3 (series 3) in June 1966, fixed side-window frames were fitted to the doors, the only way electric windows could be made to work without a major exercise in re-engineering the structure.  Along with refinements such as full-width, teak veneer dashboard, the luxury of power-windows was an indication Lotus was seeking to extend the Elan's appeal, especially in the lucrative US market and among the Elan cognoscenti, the S3 are regarded as the finest of the breed, collectors drawn especially to the two dozen-odd trimmed in red (all other Elans with black interiors).  One of reasons for the fondness for the S3 is it was the last generation built before it became necessary to conform with the phalanx of regulations (many of which were both a good idea and overdue) imposed by the US DOT (Department of Transportation, established by an act of Congress on 15 October 1966 and beginning operation on 1 April 1967).  To comply with the rules, in 1968 the S4 would be released with changes including flush fitted instruments, rocker switches replacing the toggles, collapsible steering columns and inward facing wheel spinners, these features also on the specification sheet for a run of some 450 S3 SS (Super Safety) cars, an interim release (a la the 1.25 & 1.5 Jaguar E-Types) although in the company's habitually haphazard way, not all of the SS cars included all these changes.

1968 Lotus Elan S3 FHC.

Dynamically, the Elan was from the start acclaimed, even compared to more expensive machines, the performance, handling and economy were the best compromise of the era, the steering especially praised; indeed, that’s one aspect of the Elan which has rarely been matched.  The more professional approach to cost-control and production line efficiencies brought benefits beyond the quality of the cars, Lotus for the first time a genuinely profitable operation, the revenue generating funds not only new models but also the Formula One program of the 1960s which would be the company’s golden era, yielding multiple driver’s and constructor’s championships.  The corollary of being a successful road car however meant it had to be built to appeal to a wider market than the highly strung Elite which had been more at home on the track than the street.  Accordingly, Lotus never envisaged a racing career for the new car, its suspension tuned softly enough to cope with the bumps and undulations of the real world better than the dainty Elite which was at its best exploring its limits on the billiard table-like surface of a racetrack.

1965 Lotus Type 26R.

However, although the factory had envisaged the Elan purely as a road car, owners quickly were convinced of its potential and around the world, in both standard and unmodified form, the Elan was soon a popular race-car so the factory began to receive requests for parts suitable for competition.  The customer being always right, Lotus responded, factory support soon forthcoming, culminating as early as 1964 in a racing version, the type 26R which featured lighter components, a strengthened drive-train, stiffer suspension, better brakes and more horsepower from a engine tuned and built by BRM (British Racing Motors, the team which had won the 1962 Formula One world championship).

1971 Lotus Elite Sprint DHC.

For the road cars, upgrades were frequent, a detachable hardtop soon offered and luxuries inconceivable in the Elite, such as lush carpeting, walnut trim and electric windows appeared at intervals.  Power increases over the years appear modest, the early versions rated at 105 bhp (78 kW) and the most potent at 126 bhp (94 kW) and there were variations as laws changed but the general trend was upwards.

1975 Lotus Elan +2S 130/5.

The Elan had been very much in the cottage-industry Lotus tradition, offered even in kit form for owners to assemble themselves, a practice which lasted until 1973 when changes to the UK’s value added tax (VAT, the UK’s consumption tax) rendered the practice unviable.  Very different and a harbinger of the "big" Lotus of the 1970s was the Elan +2 (Type 50), introduced in 1967.  Available only as a FHC, although visually inspired by the Elan, the +2 was wider, built on a longer wheelbase and included two rear seats, although the legroom meant they were suitable only for young children.  That however was the target market: the young men (and increasingly, even then, women), for whom a newly arrived family would otherwise have compelled a purchase from another manufacturer after outgrowing their Elan.  Never a big seller, it filled the same niche as Jaguar’s 2+2 E-Type and was popular enough to remain on sale for two years after Elan production ended in 1973, the last versions the most desirable, fitted with the five-speed gearbox included on a handful of the final Elan Sprints.

Well made imitation, the 1989 Mazda Maita (MX-5).

The Elan name was revived for a run of sports cars produced between 1989-1995 which were said to be very good but, being FWD (front-wheel drive) with all that implies, didn’t capture the imagination in the same way.  The Elan was also the template for Mazda’s very successful MX-5 (labelled in some markets variously as the Roadster or Miata), one of the more blatant pieces of far-east plagiarism, Mazda’s design centre known to have obtained at least two original Elans to study.  A typical Japanese product, the 1989 MX-5 corrected almost all the Elan’s faults and is probably as close to perfect as any car ever made.