Clergy

Clergy (pronounced klur-jee)

The group or body of ordained persons in a religion, as distinguished from the laity (the non-ordained); applied especially within Christendom.

1175–1225: From the Middle English clerge & clergie from the Old French clergé (learned men) from the Late Latin clericātus (office of a priest) from clericalis & clēricus (one ordained for religious services), from the Ancient Greek κληρικός (klērikós) (of the clergy).  It’s from the Old French clergie (from clerc) in the sense of “learned men, skilled in the arts of erudition, writing and transcription” that the modern English clerk evolved, the meaning "pertaining to clerks and copyists" dating from 1798.  Clericalism sacerdotalism (power or influence of the clergy) is from 1849, very much in the spirit of the European revolutions of 1848; clericality (quality of being clerical) is from the 1650s.  Clergy, clergyman, clergywoman and (the very modern) clergy person are nouns and the adjectives adjectives clergylike, anticlergy and proclergy (all sometimes hyphenated) were in well-known during the centuries when church and secular forces contested control of British and European; the noun plural is clergies.

The legal doctrine benefit of clergy was formalised first in the 1510s and was the exemption of ecclesiastics from certain criminal processes before secular judges although in England it had been first recognized in 1274; over time it was gradually restricted being abolished finally in 1827.  Special deals for English clergy were nothing new.  The Rosetta Stone, the granodiorite stele created in Egypt in 196 BC and re-discovered in 1799 (which became the key to deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphs) included a degree granting tax-breaks to clergy, rights which in various jurisdictions persist to this day.

Clergyman was a familiar term from the thirteenth century but the more rare clergywoman was unknown until the 1670s and then just as a general descriptor of nuns.  It wasn’t until 1871 it could refer to a "woman pastor, woman of the clerical profession" but in between, it was used humorously (and disparagingly) about the domineering wife of a clergyman, an idea Anthony Trollope (1815-1882) used to great comic effect when writing of the bishop’s wife in the Chronicles of Barsetshire (1855-1867).  Clergess (member of a female religious order) was attested from the late fourteenth century; clergy-feme (clergyman's wife or woman) was first noted in the 1580s.

Church of England (and worldwide Anglican) clergy

A clergyman.  Cosmo Gordon Lang (1864–1945), Archbishop of Canterbury (1928–1942).

In the Anglican Church, there are in excess of two-dozen titles before one even reaches then levels of the right reverend and very reverend gentlemen but despite the extraordinary proliferation of styles and titles within the Anglican clergy, under canon law, there are but three types of ordained person: a bishop, a priest, and a deacon.  With very few exceptions, the people who hold other offices and titles will always be (1) a bishop, (2) a priest or (3) a deacon, with their other title(s) overlaid atop their primary appointment.  There doesn't seem to be any theological justification for all this ecclesiastical bureaucratization but as those who study organizational behavior have often noted, structures once established can quickly become established tradition and assume their own inertia.

Bishop

A member of the clergy who has been commissioned to oversee the work of a group of congregations and the priests & Deacons who serve them; that group of congregations is called a diocese.  Only a bishop may ordain persons to the order of deacon and priest; only a bishop may also ordain (also called a consecration) another bishop, but must do so in the company of other bishops and a bishop must have been previously have been ordained a priest.  In the Church of England, twenty-six bishops (The Lords Spiritual) sit by historic right in the House of Lords, the UK parliament’s upper house.

Priest

A member of the clergy who has been commissioned to preside at gatherings around the Lord’s Table (the Holy Communion) and to extend assurance of God’s forgiveness to those who truly repent of their sins.  A person who is a priest must previously have been ordained as a deacon, and continues to be a deacon throughout his or her life as a priest.  A few churches now use presbyter for this order.

Feminist Lindsay Lohan in habit with Smith & Wesson .500 Magnum in Machete (2010), makes a persuasive case for the ordination of women in the Roman Catholic Church.  In the Anglican communion, there are now even women bishops although some reactionary dioceses such as Sydney restrict women to the diaconate (ie deacons) where they may assist "real" priests although their exact role can vary between parishes.  The Sydney diocese, where there's still a hankering for popery, refuses to ordain women as priests and bishops.

Deacon

A member of the clergy who has been commissioned to proclaim the Gospel, assist at the Holy Communion, and to call the church, by word and example, to its ministry of service and healing.

Archbishop

A bishop who presides over several dioceses in a large region, a position which includes some supervisory responsibilities over both dioceses and bishops in that region.  In the Church of England, the Archbishop of Canterbury is the (nominal and spiritual) head of the worldwide Anglican Communion.

Archdeacon

A member of the clergy appointed to assist the bishop in certain administrative and pastoral duties in a diocese.  An archdeacon may administer a district comprising a group of parishes which is usually known as an Archdeaconry.  Despite the name, there is now no direct connection with the order of deacon, and an archdeacon is generally one of the priests of a diocese.  The position and title normally expires upon resignation or retirement, although certain retired archdeacons in good standing with their bishop often retain the title.

Aspirant

A person who has indicated to the bishop that he or she hopes to be ordained and is in the preliminary interview process.  Once the bishop has formally accepted their candidacy, the person is called a postulant.

Bishop-elect

A person chosen to become a bishop, but not yet consecrated; the word elect simply means chosen.  Anglican bishops are selected by a variety of means: some are elected by the clergy and laity of the diocese where they will serve, but some are selected by a specially-constituted committee (often called an Electoral College).  In England, historically, bishops were personal appointments by the monarch; now the sovereign appoints on the recommendation of the prime minister.  This process has not been without the odd hiccup.  Once, Lord Salisbury (1903; UK prime minister for thirteen years variously 1885-1902), as was the usual practice, received from the Archbishop of Canterbury the name of the two clergymen he had considered for appointment to a vacant bishopric.  Unfortunately, the spellings of the two names were similar and the prime-minister inadvertently sent to the palace the wrong name.  After the gentleman was enthroned he was informed of the error and remarked: "Oh, I daresay he will do just as well".     

Canon

Canon is an honorary title conferred upon a member of the clergy (and some lay persons) for faithful and valuable service to the church.  The standard joke in church circles is it's hard to find men of sufficient calibre to fulfil the role and once appointed, they should never be fired.

Chaplain

A member of the clergy whose employment is not in a parish or congregation, but who undertakes pastoral care and organizes worship services within a non-religious organization such as a school, hospital or the military.  There are a few special appointments where a chaplain may be a spiritual advisor and personal assistant to a bishop or a monarch.

Coadjutor

A bishop who has been appointed to assist a diocesan bishop.  Generally, a Coadjutor automatically becomes Diocesan in his or her own right, upon the retirement or resignation of the person currently in that office.

Commissary

A person appointed to exercise the administrative functions of a bishop, when the actual bishop is away from the diocese or otherwise indisposed.  A commissary may not perform any of the spiritual functions of a bishop, such as ordinations and the appointment is inherently temporary, the role expiring immediately upon the bishop’s return.

Curate

A deacon or a priest who functions as an assistant or subordinate to the Incumbent of a parish.  The word curate refers to the cure or care of souls, and while the word does suggest a primary and senior responsibility (indeed, in a French-speaking Roman Catholic Church the senior priest of a parish is called a curé), in the Anglican Church, a curate is always an assistant.

Dean

The most common meaning of this word in Anglicanism is “a priest who is the Incumbent of a cathedral, and the most senior priest of a diocese (under the bishop)”.  This title is not to be confused with academic deans and there are other Anglican officials with dean in their titles (such as Regional or District Dean) and their most familiar role is as the administrative heads of cathedrals.

Diocesan

A bishop in charge of a Diocese and it’s correct to say either the Diocesan or the diocesan bishop when referring to this office.  The Diocesan may also be referred to as the Ordinary.

Honorary (somethings)

An Honorary Assistant or Honorary Curate (and a few other variants) indicates an ordained person who functions as one of the clergy in a parish, but does so on a voluntary basis.  He or she may have other employment, or be retired from full-time paid ministry, but will preach, preside, or do pastoral care in the parish without receiving a living wage for it. The position is almost always official, formally designated as such by licence or certificate from the Bishop.  In this, honorary appointments in the church essentially mirror academic practice.

Father

Father is not actually a title, simply a form of address, a kind of courtesy title.

Incumbent

A technical term for a member of the clergy who has primary administrative, pastoral, and liturgical responsibilities in a parish or congregation.  Despite its official nature, this term is seldom used in conversation, and is often unknown among ordinary church members, who will usually refer to their Incumbent as the Rector.

Lay Canon

A non-ordained person who is given the honorary title of Canon, usually as a form of recognition for their leadership in some aspect of the church’s life.

Metropolitan

An archbishop who presides over a region of the church which may include several dioceses, bishops, and even archbishops; second only to a Primate in authority and responsibility.  Some Metropolitans are also Primates, and are officially described as Primate and Metropolitan.

Ministry Developer

In congregations and districts where the traditional clergy tasks (preaching, pastoral care, presiding etc) are divided up and done on a voluntary basis by different individuals (some ordained, some laity), the team leader is often given the title Ministry Developer.  This person is most often ordained and seminary trained, but need not be, provided only that he or she is good at enabling teamwork and communicating a rich sense of the church’s mission.

Ordinand

A person in the process of being ordained; preparation having been accomplished, the title exists only on the day of ordination.  Before, during, and after the liturgy, the brand new deacon or priest is correctly called an ordinand.

Ordinary

In a diocese or jurisdiction where there are a number of bishops, one of them always holds primary authority, and is called the Diocesan or, in some jurisdictions, the Ordinary (always with an uppercase O).  The etymology of ordinary in this context is murky but may relate to this person’s responsibility for deciding who gets ordained.

In the Anglican Church of Canada, a bishop who directs Anglican chaplains in the armed forces is also called the Bishop Ordinary.  This person is not assigned to any particular diocese and the duties of a Bishop Ordinary cross many diocesan and even national boundaries.

Parson

This is now an almost colloquial term applied to a member of the Anglican clergy.  Historically, in England it was an official designation for a salaried priest in charge of a parish.  The word derives from the Latin persona from which also is derived the very generic “person.”

Pastor

Although not a formal title in the Anglican Communion, some clergy find it acceptable, because it’s more widely understood than Rector or Incumbent.  Pastor means shepherd, and is quite suitable to use for any priest who has pastoral responsibilities.

Postulant

A person who has been accepted by the bishop as a candidate for ordination and is in the process of being trained.

Prebendary

An honorary canon, a title used almost exclusively in the UK.  Historically, in England, a prebendary was a member of the clerical staff of a cathedral or collegiate church; a paid position whose income derived from specially allocated rents of land administered by that church, the properties generating such rents was called a prebend.  Although prebend-based income is now rare (some claim it’s extinct) the honorary title of prebendary is still England.

Precentor

A person, usually a member of the clergy, who is responsible for organizing the liturgy and music of a large church (such as a great cathedral).

Presbyter

Another word for priest, both from the Ancient Greek πρεσβυτερος (presbuteros) (church elder).  There are dense theological arguments surrounding these words and while all official Anglican documents and ordination liturgies use priest, there are some places in the church which use presbyter to refer to this order, the second of the three basic Anglican orders.

Priest-in-Charge

A person who has the responsibilities and duties of an Incumbent, but on a temporary basis, the appointment always at the discretion of the bishop.

Primate

A bishop who presides over the Anglican Church in a large region, or even in an entire country.  There will be many dioceses, bishops, and occasionally some archbishops under a primate’s supervision.  The person who holds a comparable position in Scotland is called Primus and, in the US, the equivalent position is the Presiding Bishop.

Provost

Provost has many meanings in English, used also to refer to military police or the principal of a university college.  When applied to a member of the Anglican clergy, the word refers to a priest who is the Incumbent of a cathedral church.  The more common word for this position is Dean, but in Scotland, Kenya and some smaller countries, the correct title is Provost.

Rector

A priest who has primary administrative, pastoral, and liturgical responsibilities in a parish or congregation; similar to and sometimes identical with an Incumbent.  Some heads of academic schools are also called Rector but such officials need not be ordained, or connected with the church.

Regional bishop

A bishop in a large diocese who is one of several bishops, each having oversight over a specific geographic area of parishes and clergy within that diocese.  This person may be a coadjutor or a suffragan, or even the Diocesan.  Technically, regional bishops can function anywhere within the diocese, but they have a closer relationship with and more detailed knowledge of their particular district.

Regional Dean

A priest who has some pastoral and administrative oversight of a small group of parishes or congregations.  This position has less weight than that of an archdeacon, so there can be several regional deans in an archdeacon’s area of responsibility.  A regional dean is generally an Incumbent of one of the parishes in his or her Deanery.  The titles Rural Dean and District Dean refer to exactly the same function and of the three Rural Dean is probably the oldest but is falling from use as the worldwide trend of urbanisation continues.

Suffragan

A bishop who has been appointed to assist a diocesan bishop (the Ordinary).  In contrast to the position of Coadjutor, a Suffragan is not automatically the Diocesan’s successor.

Transitional Diaconate

A category of clergy who are ordained deacon in preparation for being ordained priest.  Clergy in the transitional diaconate tend to spend up to a year serving as deacons, after which ordination to the priesthood takes place following further review and inquiry.

Vicar

This has slightly different meanings in various parts of the Anglican world.  In England, a vicar is a salaried parish priest whereas in the US, they’re a priest responsible either for a mission or for an institutional chapel (a mission is a congregation that is either recently founded, or is not capable of being financially self-sustaining; a chapel is a place of worship in a hospital, or an airport, or a government building).  In many places the word vicar can be used for a priest who is acting in behalf of a senior official who is not present (similar to the English word, vicarious). 

Vocational Diaconate

A category of clergy ordained as deacons who intend to remain so for the rest of their lives, without being further ordained to the priesthood.  The role exists to provide for those who feel their vocation to be that of ministry and service, rather than presiding.

Homage

Homage (pronounced hom-ij, om-ij or oh-mahzh)

(1) Respect or reverence paid or rendered.

(2) In feudal era custom & law, the formal public acknowledgment by which a feudal tenant or vassal declared himself to be the man or vassal of his lord, owing him fealty and service; something done in acknowledgment of vassalage (archaic).

(3) The relation thus established of a vassal to his lord (archaic).

(4) Something done or given in acknowledgment or consideration of the worth of another.

(5) To render homage to (archaic except in artistic or historic use).

(6) An artistic work imitating another in a flattering style.

(7) A (sometimes controversial) way of describing an imitation, clone or replica of something.

(8) A demonstration of respect, such as towards an individual after their retirement or death (often in the form of (an obviously retrospective) exhibition).

1250–1300: From the Middle English hommage, omage & umage (the existence of “homage” is contested), from the Old French homage & hommage, from the Medieval Latin homināticum (homage, the service of a vassal or 'man'), the construct being (h)ome (man), from the from Latin hominem, accusative of homō (a man (and in Medieval Latin “a vassal”)) + -āticum (the noun-forming suffix) (-age).  The suffix -age was from the Middle English -age, from the Old French -age, from the Latin -āticum.  Cognates include the French -age, the Italian -aggio, the Portuguese -agem, the Spanish -aje & Romanian -aj.  It was used to form nouns (1) with the sense of collection or appurtenance, (2) indicating a process, action, or a result, (3) of a state or relationship, (4) indicating a place, (5) indicating a charge, toll, or fee, (6) indicating a rate & (7) of a unit of measure.  The verb homage was derived from the noun in the late sixteenth century (the agent noun homager noted from the turn of the fifteenth).  Homage is a noun & verb, homager is a noun, homageable is an adjective and homaging, & homaged are verbs; the noun plural is homages.  In Scots the spelling was homage and in Irish, ómós and the old synonym manred has been obsolete since the fourteenth century.  The predominately US pronunciation with a silent h happened because of a conflation with the nearly synonymous doublet hommage, pronounced thus.

By convention, the modern use of the form is usually as “pay homage to” but because of the variations in pronunciations (the h silent and not), homage is sometimes preceded by the article “a” and sometimes by “an” and under various influences in popular culture, the French pronunciation has in some circles become fashionable.  The term “lip homage” is much the same as “lip service”: something expressed with “mere words”.  In Middle English, the meanings variously were (1) An oath of loyalty to a liege performed by their vassal; a pledge of allegiance, (2) Money given to a liege by a vassal or the privilege of collecting such money, (3) A demonstration of respect or honor towards an individual (including prayer), (4) The totality of a feudal lord's subjects when collected and (5) Membership in an organized religion or belief system.

In feudal times, a homage was said to be an “act of fealty”.  The Middle English noun fealty dates from the twelfth century and was from feaute, from the Old French feauté, from fealte (loyalty, fidelity; homage sworn by a vassal to his overlord; faithfulness), from the Latin fidelitatem (nominative fidelitas) (faithfulness, fidelity), from fidelis (loyal, faithful), from the primitive Indo-European root bheidh- (to trust, confide, persuade).  In feudal law, to attorn was to “transfer homage or allegiance to another lord”.  The verb attorn (to turn over to another) was from the Middle English attournen, from the Old French atorner (to turn, turn to, assign, attribute, dispose; designate), the construct being a- (to) + tourner (to turn), from the Latin tornare (to turn on a lathe) from tornus (lathe), from the Greek tornos (lathe, tool for drawing circles), from the primitive Indo-European root tere- (to rub, turn).  Attornment was a part English real property law but was not directly comparable with the operation of those laws which in matters of slavery assigned property rights over human beings which technically were no different than those over a horse.  Attornment recognized there was in the feudal system some degree of reciprocity in rights & obligations and it was held to be unreasonable a tenant should become subject to a new lord without their own approval.  At law, what evolved was the doctrine of attornment which held alienation could not be imposed without the consent of the tenant.  Given the nature of feudal relations it was an imperfect protection but a considerable advance and attornment was also extended to all cases of lessees for life or for years.  The arrangement regarding the historic feudal relationships lasted until the early eighteenth century but attornment persists in modern property law as a mechanism which acts to preserve the essential elements of commercial tenancies in the event of the leased property changing hands.  It provides for what would now be called “transparency” in transactions and ensures all relevant information is disclosed, thereby ensuring the integrity of the due diligence process.

The historical concepts of homage and tribute are sometimes confused.  Homage was a formal ritual performed by a vassal to pledge loyalty and submission to a lord or monarch.  There were variations but the classic model was one in which the vassal would kneel before the lord, place his hands between the lord's hands, and swear an oath of loyalty and service.  That was not merely symbolic for it signified the vassal's acknowledgment of the lord's authority and their willingness to serve and protect the lord in exchange for a right to live on (and from) the land.  The relationship was that creature of feudalism; something both personal and contractual.  Tributes were actual payments made by one ruler or state to another as a sign of submission, acknowledgment of superiority, or in exchange for protection or peace.  Tribute could be paid in gold, other mediums of exchange or in the form of  goods or services.  Tribute was something imposed on a subordinate entity by a dominant power, either as a consequence of defeat in war or as a way of avoiding being attacked (ie a kind of protection racket).  The meaning of homage in feudal property law was quite specific but synonyms (depending on context) now include deference, tribute, allegiance, reverence, loyalty, obeisance, duty, adoration, fealty, faithfulness, service, fidelity, worship, adulation, honor, esteem, praise, genuflection, respect, awe, fidelity, loyalty & devotion.  However, those using homage for anything essentially imitative might find out other synonyms include fake (and more generously faux, tribute, reproduction, pastiche, clone or replica).

Sample from Ariana Grande’s (b 1993) Thank U, Next (2018). 

Singer Ariana Grande’s (b 1993) song Thank U, Next (2018) was one of the year’s big successes and the video included well-constructed references to a number of early-century pop culture products including Legally Blonde (2001) and Mean Girls (2004).  Within popular culture, there seems to be a greater tolerance of works which are in some way a homage, the term “sampling” presumably chosen to imply what was being done was (1) taking only a small fragment of someone else’s work and (2) for all purposes within long established doctrine of “fair use”.  Interestingly, instead of regarding sampling as fair use, US courts initially were quite severe and in many early cases treated the matter as one of infringement of copyright, apparently because while a attributed paragraph here and there in a paper of dozens or hundreds of pages could reasonably seen as “fair use”, a recurring snatch of even a few seconds in a song only three minutes long was not.  Of late, US appeal courts seem to have been more accommodating of sampling and have taken the view the legal doctrine of de minimis which has been used when assessing literary or academic works should apply also to sampling but the mechanics of calculating “fair use” need to be considered in the context of the product.  The Latin phrase de minimis (pertaining to minimal things) was from the expressions de minimis non curat praetor (the praetor does not concern himself with trifles) or de minimis non curat lex (the law does not concern itself with trifles) and was an exclusionary principle by which a court could refuse to hear or dismiss matters to trivial to bother the justice system.  One Queen of Sweden preferred the more poetic Latin adage, aquila non capit muscās (the eagle does not catch flies).  As a legal doctrine, it actually predates its fifteenth century formalization in the textbooks and there are records in civil, Islamic and ecclesiastical courts of Judges throwing out cases because the matters involved were of such little matter.  In many jurisdictions, governments now set a certain financial limit for the matters to be considered, below which they are either excluded or referred to a tribunal established for such purposes.

One suspects artists, architects, film directors and such are inclined to call their work a homage (or probably the French hommage (pronounced omm-arge)) as a kind of pre-emptive strike against accusations of plagiarism or a lack of originality.  Car manufacturers are apt to do it too, examples in recent decades including the BMW Mini, Volkswagen Beetle, Dodge Challenger and Chevrolet Camaro, all of which shamelessly followed the lines of the original versions from generations earlier.  The public response to these retro-efforts was usually positive although if clumsily executed (Jaguar S-Type) derision soon follows.  Sometimes, it’s just a piece which is homaged.  On the Mercedes-Benz CL (C215 1998-2006), the homage was to the roofline of the W111 & W112 coupés (1961-1971), especially the memorable sweep of the rear glass although all of that was itself a homage to the 1955 Chryslers.  It was a shame the C215 didn’t pick up more of the W111’s motifs, the retrospective bits easily the best.

1969 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 (left) and 2023 Chevrolet Camaro.  The original Chevrolet Camaro (1966-1969) was a response to the original Ford Mustang (1964) which had made the pony-car segment a wildly popular and profitable place to be and it in turn not the shape the Mustang would follow but certainly the engineering but the styling attracted Chrysler which adopted the lines just as Chevrolet abandoned them.  Chevrolet however picked them up again in 2010 but their homage to 1966 was perhaps a little too heavy-handed, dramatic though the effect was.  Still, the result doubtlessly was better that what would have been delivered had the designers come up with anything original and that's not a problem restricted cars.  One wishes architects would more often pay homage to mid-century modernism or art deco but the issue seems to be all the awards architects give each other are only for originality, thus the assembly line of the ugly but distinctive.

1970 Dodge Challenger (left) and 2023 Dodge Challenger (right).  The original Challenger (and its corporate companions the Plymouth Barracuda & Cuda) was a homage to the 1966 Camaro and so well executed that Chrysler’s pair are thought by many to be the best looking pony cars of the muscle car era.  In 2008 when the look was reprised, it was thought a most a accomplished effort and better received than would be the new Camaro two season later.  Chevrolet must have been miffed Dodge was so praised for paying homage to what in 1969 had been borrowed from their 1966 range.

1979 Volkswagen Beetle Cabriolet by Karmann (left) and 2015 Volkswagen Beetle Cabriolet (right).  First produced in 1938, Volkswagen clung to the rear-engine / air-cooled formula so long it almost threatened the company’s survival and while the public showed little enthusiasm for a return to the mechanical configuration (the Porsche crew are a separate species which, if they had their way, would still not have to bother with cooling fluid), the shape of the Beetle did appeal and over two generations between 1997-2019, the company sold what was initially called the “New Beetle”.  Despite the pre-war lines imposing significant packaging inefficiencies, it was popular enough to endure for over a decade.

1966 Austin Mini-Cooper 1275 S (left) and 2001 BMW Mini (right).  Students of the history of design insist the BMW Mini was not so much a homage to the British Motor Corporation’s (BMC) original Mini (1959) but actually to some of the conceptual sketches which emerged from the design office between 1957-1958 but were judged too radical for production.  That was true but there are enough hints and clues in the production models for nobody to miss the point.

1965 Jaguar 3.8 S-Type (left) and 1999 Jaguar S-Type.  Released in 1963, the Jaguar S-Type was an updated Mark 2 with the advantage of more luggage space and markedly improved ride and handling made possible by the grafting on of the independent rear-suspension from the E-Type (XKE) and Mark X (later 420G).  The improvements were appreciated but the market never warmed to the discontinuity between the revised frontal styling and the elongated rear end, the latter working better when a Mark X look was adopted in front and released as the 420.  Still, although never matching the appeal of the classic Mark 2 with its competition heritage, it has a period charm and has a following in the Jaguar collector market.  According to contemporary accounts, the homage launched in 1999 was a good car but it seemed a curious decision to use as a model a vehicle which has always been criticized for its appearance although compared with the ungainly retro, the original S-Type (1963-1968) started to look quite good, the new one the answer to a question something like "What would a Jaguar look like if built by Hyundai?".  As an assignment in design school that would have been a good question and the students could have pinned their answers to the wall as a warning to themselves but it wasn't one the factory should ever have posed.  Quietly, the new S-Type was dropped in 2007 after several seasons of indifferent sales.

1956 Chrysler 300B (left), 1970 Mercedes-Benz 280 SE Coupé (centre) and 2005 Mercedes-Benz SL65 (right).

The 1955-1956 Chryslers live in the shadow cast by the big fins which sprouted on the 1957 cars but they possess a restraint and elegance of line which was lost as a collective madness overtook the industry.  Mercedes-Benz in 1961 paid due homage when the 220 SE Coupé (W111; 1961-1971) was released and returned to the roofline with the C215 (1998-2006).  The big coupé was the closest the factory came to styling success in recent years (although the frontal treatment was unfortunate) but one must be sympathetic to the designers because so much is now dictated by aerodynamics.  Still, until they too went mad, the BMW design office seemed  to handle big coupés better.  

In the collector market, there are many low-volume models which have become highly prized.  Some were produced only in low numbers because of a lack of demand, some because the manufacturer needed to make only so many for homologation purposes and some because production was deliberately limited.  Such machines can sell for high prices, sometimes millions so, especially where such vehicles are based on more mundane models produced in greater numbers, many are tempted to “make their own”, a task which car range from the remarkably simple to the actually impossible.  Those creating such things often produce something admirable (and technically often superior to the original) and despite what some say, there’s really no objection to the pursuit provided there is disclosure because otherwise it’s a form of fraud.  When such machines are created, those doing the creating seldom say fake or faux and variously prefer tribute, clone, recreation, homage or replica and those words in this context come with their own nuanced meanings, replica for example not meaning exactly what it does in geometry or database administration.

A 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO in silver (US$70 million) and a fine replica by Tempero of a 1963 model in rosso corsa (US$1.2 million).

As an extreme example of the homage was inspired by the Ferrari 250 GTO, of which it’s usually accepted 36 were built although there were actually 41 (2 x (1961) prototypes; 32 x (1962–63) Series I 250 GTO; 3 x (1962–1963) “330 GTO”; 1 x (1963) 250 GTO with LM Berlinetta-style body & 3 x (1964) Series II 250 GTO).  The 36 in the hands of collectors command extraordinary prices, chassis 4153GT in June 2018 realizing US$70 million in a private sale whereas an immaculately crafted replica of a 1962 version by Tempero (New Zealand), said to be better built than any original GTO (although that is damning with faint praise, those who restore pre-modern Ferraris wryly noting that while the drive-trains were built with exquisite care, the assembly of the coachwork could be shoddy indeed) was listed for sale at US$1.3 million.  Even less exalted machinery (though actually more rare still) like the 1971 Plymouth Hemi Cuda convertible also illustrate the difference for there are now considerably more clones / replicas / recreations etc than ever there were originals and the price difference is typically a factor of ten or more.  On 13 November 2023, the market will be tested when a Ferrari 250 GTO (chassis 3765LM) will be auctioned in New York, RM Sotheby’s, suggesting a price exceeding $US60 million.  A number which greatly exceeds or fails by much to make that mark will be treated a comment on the state of the world economy.

Treasure

Treasure (pronounced trezh-er)

(1) Wealth or riches stored or accumulated, especially in the form of precious metals, money, jewels, or plate; wealth, rich materials, or valuable things.

(2) A thing, beast or person greatly valued or highly prized.

(3) As the verbs treasured & treasuring, carefully to retain or keep in store, as in the mind; to regard or treat as precious; cherish; to put away for security or future use, as money.

(4) A term of endearment in the sense of “cherish” (archaic).

1125–1175: From the Middle English tresor, (displacing the native schat) from the Old French tresor (treasury, hoard, treasure (trésor in Modern French)), from the Gallo-Roman tresaurus, from the Latin thēsaurus (storehouse, hoard; anything hoarded (source also of Spanish & Italian tesoro)), from the Ancient Greek θησαυρός thēsauros (store, treasure, treasure house) (related to tithenai (to put, to place), from a reduplicated form of the primitive Indo-European root dhe- (to set, put).  In Middle English there was also the spelling thresur, the modern spelling is from the sixteenth century.  It replaced the Old English goldhord & maðm and the meaning extended from hoards of precious metals etc to a general sense of "anything valued" from circa 1200.  The verb emerged in late fourteenth century Middle English, a derivative of the noun.  It meant literally "to amass treasure; to store up for the future" but was used also in the figurative sense as "regard as precious, retain carefully in the mind" from treasure.  The first recorded treasure hunt happened in 1913 a relatively modern alternative spelling was the now almost extinct treasuer.  Treasure is a noun & verb, treasurable & treasureless are adjectives, treasury, treasurership, treasuress & treasurer are nouns, treasuring is a verb and treasured is a verb & adjective; the noun plural is treaures.

The noun treasurer was from the late thirteenth century, from the Old North French & Anglo-French tresorer & and the Old French tresorier, from tresor.  The noun treasury (a room or vault in which to store and safeguard treasure) dates from circa 1300, from the eleventh century Old French tresorie (treasury), from tresor.  The meaning "department of state that controls public revenue" was recorded from late the late fourteenth century and the first treasury bill was issued in 1797.  An Old English word for "room for treasure" was maðm-hus and for "treasury", it was feo-hus (connected to the modern fee).  There is a connection with the noun hoard, from the Old English hord (a treasure, valuable stock or store, an accumulation of something for preservation or future use and hence "any mass of things preserved by being deposited together," from the Proto-Germanic huzdam (source also of Old Saxon hord (treasure, hidden or inmost place)).  It was cognate with the Old Norse hodd, the German Hort and the Gothic huzd (treasure; literally "hidden treasure"), from the primitive Indo-European root (s)keu- (to cover, conceal).

T-Paper

US Treasury Building, Washington DC.

T-paper (Treasury-paper) is the collective term for securities issued by United States Treasury.  The US Treasury Department sells bills, notes, and bonds at auction with a fixed interest rate.  When demand is high, bidders pay higher than face value to receive the interest rate.  When demand is low, they pay less, thus the yield declines as the price rises; at times of crisis, yield drops as investors seek security at the expense of income.  T-paper gained the name from being once issued on physical paper or cardboard) but are exist in now digital form and are also referred to as “Treasurys”.

1864 US $100 three-year treasury note (6% annual interest rate, compounded semi-annually, payable at maturity); a bearer-bond, paid over-the-counter, to whomever held the physical paper.  

Although physical paper is no longer much associated with T-paper, a linguistic legacy persists in the “coupon stripping” market.  There’s long been a secondary market for T-paper, one flavor of which is where the interest and principal components have been separated, or "stripped" so they may be re-sold as separate products.  The name is derived from the days of paper and cardboard when traders literally would separate the paper interest coupons from the paper securities.  In the secondary market, the two pieces of paper than became independent retail items, one yielding interest, the principal re-sold as a zero-coupon bond.  The correct name in the digital age is Separate Trading of Registered Interest and Principal Securities (STRIPS).  STRIPS, more than some other products, reflects the dual role of the Treasury as both regulator and participant in the financial gambling market, not itself an issuer of STRIPS (that part of the market reserved for brokers and the non-retail arms of banks), instead the maintaining the transaction and ownership register.

1976 US $5000 ten-year treasury note with 8% rate.

The difference in types of T-Paper are defined by the length of the term: the time until the bond the matures at which point it is repaid.  All T-paper are really bonds, the nomenclature just part of the jargon of the industry.  Treasury Bills are issued for less than a year, Treasury Notes for 2, 3, 5, and 10 years and Treasury Bonds for 30 years.  Still unconfirmed is whether recent discussions by Treasury about longer-term bonds will be pursued although demand seemingly exists, fifty and even hundred-year bonds mentioned.  There has been speculation about the demand which, given the amount of money said now to be “sloshing around” the system, wasn’t unexpected and the large holdings of various sovereign wealth funds may also find the longer terms attractive, for reasons political as well as fiscal.  It anyway represents one school of thought on what to do about the money supply. 

A more recent creation is the Treasury Inflation-Protected Security (TIPS), bond, the principal of which is indexed against inflation using the Consumer Price Index (CPI).  As the CPI rises, the principal is adjusted upward; if the index falls, the principal is adjusted downwards, the coupon rate remaining constant, but generating a different amount of interest when multiplied by the inflation-adjusted principal.  This has the effect of protecting the holder against the inflation rate as measured by the CPI.  The current version of TIPS was created in 1997 and is offered with five, ten and thirty year maturities.

Spikes and waves:  US T-Note yield against inflation projections and outcomes with events noted, 2000-2020.

Inflation-indexed bonds became common in government bond markets in the late twentieth century, many emerging in the inflationary environment which followed (1) the distortions in US government spending the 1960s, (2) the structural changes to the Bretton-Woods system in the 1970s  and (3) the consequences of the oil shocks in the same decade; they’re essentially a form of hedging.  In the orthodox bond market, even those issued for long terms promise the holder a fixed dollar (or whatever currency) income flow for the term of issue.  That contrasts with the outgoings of an individual or corporation because prices tend quickly to adjust to external changes and unexpected changes can increase the general level of prices, altering the real purchasing power of money which is a risk to both holders and issuers of orthodox bonds.  The indexed bond substantially reduces this risk in that the lender’s receipts and the borrower’s payments become linked to movements in the general price level.

Lindsay Lohan attending the LA premiere of Treasure Planet, Cenerama Dome, Hollywood, California, November 2002.

Again, while used as a hedge, it is still a gambling market, the incentive for governments, beyond the political attractions of being able to offer the product, being the ability substantially to reduce borrowing costs  The UK government first issued indexed bonds in 1981 as a part of an attempt to reduce (it was actually an attempt to kill) inflation.  The markets however had noted the post-war performance of successive governments and were sceptical, holders of orthodox bonds, in effect, charging the government on the basis of an inflation rate substantially higher than the government intended the outcome to be.  This is how gambling works.  In issuing indexed bonds, simultaneously the government flagged a new seriousness in monetary policy and an intent to reduce funding costs by promising to compensate investors for high inflation only if inflation did not fall.  Unexpectedly, the government’s strategy proved successful and substantial savings in borrowing costs were realised.  The effect of the increase in the money supply induced by the COVID-19 responses will ultimately produce higher inflation because, unlike the restorative measures in the wake of the global financial crisis (2008-2011) which essentially gave money only to the rich, greater disposable income was gained more widely.  If the inflation is sustained or (in response to new, unexpected events) spikes, New Zealand's approach (which included products actually marketed as "inflation-proof bonds") might be re-visited.   

The New Zealand experience was different but the small size of the market, while making it an interesting and manageable thing for modelers and analysts, does mean caution must be taken if attempting to apply that experience at scale.  The NZ government issued inflation-adjusted government securities between 1977-1985 and, in a period of historically high inflation, they were popular, eventually accounting for some 15% of domestic debt on issue.  Post-war NZ had evolved into what is possibly the West’s most extreme example of an open political system being combined with a highly regulated economy and that did tend to work until the convulsions of the 1970s to which the NZ hybrid proved unable to adjust.  The adjustments were made after a change of government in 1984 and the inflation adjusted bonds offered by tender in 1983-1984 entered a market where the official inflation target was considerably lower than the buyer’s expectation.

New Zealand Consumer Price Index (CPI) 1970-2015.

Almost immediately, the new government ceased issuing indexed debt.  Perhaps paradoxically, the same credibility gap confronted the government in its own use of more orthodox methods to cut inflation.  Because it was expected the costs of selling long-term nominal bonds would be high, in 1986, issues longer than five years were suspended, the government making clear that would prevail until their inflation target had been met or exceeded.  The approach, while textbook correct, wasn’t without risk because, although shortening the term of a government’s nominal debt can be an appropriate response where inflation outcomes are uncertain, it does heighten the risk of higher costs when rolling-over maturing debt.  As it turned out, for one reason and another, some fairly brutal, inflation was tamed and in 1995, the government returned to the index-linked market.  Many countries created markets, Finland and some of the Nordic zone as early as 1945 and Israel ten year later.  A cluster of Latin American countries issued between 1964-1972 and a number of OECD nations followed the New Zealand and UK in the 1980s although the US Treasury wasn’t active until 1997.

Drupelet

Drupelet (pronounced droop-lit)

In botany (plant anatomy), the small drupe, one of the individual subdivisions (pericarps) composing the outer layer of certain fruits such as blackberries or raspberries.

1875–1880: The construct was drupe (stone fruit), from the Scientific Latin, from the Latin drūpa (plum; over-ripe or wrinkled olive), from the Ancient Greek δρύππᾱ (drúppā) + -let (the diminutive suffix).  The –let suffix was from the Middle English –let & -elet, from the Old French -elet, a double diminutive from the Old French –el & -et.  It was used to create diminutive forms and in English is widely appended (booklet: a small book, applet: a small computer application, piglet: a young pig et al).  It’s applied almost exclusively to concrete nouns and except in jocular use (and unusually for a diminutive) never with names. When used with objects, it generally denotes something smaller; when used with animals, it is of their young form; when used of adult persons, it’s usually depreciative, connoting pettiness and conveying contempt.  A special use was in suits of armor where it denoted a piece of the larger whole, this sense carrying over to some aspects of military uniforms.  In the Late Latin, a drupella was a “small ripe olive”.  The synonym is drupel.  Drupelet & drupel are nouns, drupaceous & drupelike are adjectives; the noun plural is drupelets.

A handful of raspberries.

Drupelets are the individual subdivisions (pericarps) and technically are small individual fruits which comprise the aggregate, fleshy outer layer of certain fruits such as blackberries or raspberries, assembled over the seed within.  The bramble is in the large genus Rubus of flowering plants in the rose family (Rosaceae) including raspberries, blackberries and hybrids such as loganberries and boysenberries.  Typically erect or trailing shrubs with canelike stems (although some species are herbaceous), many spread vegetatively and are noted for the protective prickles along their branches.  Delighting botanists, many species freely hybridize with each other, making the task of classification more or less permanently a work in progress.  Strictly speaking, the aggregate fruits (such as the raspberry and blackberry) are not, despite their names, true berries.

The Razzie trophy (note the detailed druplets).

Dating from 1981, the Golden Raspberries Awards (known within the industry as “the Razzies” and it is the word Razzie which is printed on the physical trophy) was established as a parody of the annual Academy Awards (the Oscars) run since 1929 by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.  The event, now conducted immediately before the Academy Awards, “honors” the worst of that year’s cinematic releases and in addition to a number of innovative categories, its awards mirror those of the academy including: Worst Picture, Worst Director, Worst Actor, Worst Actress, Worst Supporting Actor, Worst Supporting Actress & Worst Screenplay.  The name is based on "blowing a raspberry" which is to make a expression of derision or disapproval by blowing air through the lips (known in the US ironically as the "Bronx cheer").  Receiving regular or frequent nominations for a Razzie has not prevented several actors from enjoying successful careers and some have even personally accepted their awards; nor is there of necessity any relationship between Razzies and a film’s commercial success.  The relationship between the Razzies and the Oscars is rather like the Ig Noble prizes which are awarded to those who have published the findings of research which seems bizarre, absurd or unnecessary.  Just as there are researchers who have won both a Nobel & Ig Nobel prize, some in the entertainment business have taken home both Oscars and Razzies.  I Know Who Killed Me (2007) set a mark in 2008 by winning seven Razzies (though the record would stand for only two years), two of which went to Lindsay Lohan although some claimed she deserved four because in the film she played two parts (the characters may or may not have been twins); the film has since become a cult favorite and in a regular feature of special screenings.  It may be apocryphal but the industry lore is that the original design specification for the Razzie trophy stipulated only that each should cost less than US$1.  The statuette itself is a stylized plastic raspberry (the drupelets spray-painted gold) about the size of a golf ball-sized, mounted atop a base of used film canisters and a piece of timber onto which is glued paper printed with the organization’s logo.  It’s said the quality of the trophy hasn’t improved over the decades but the effects of inflation mean the unit cost now exceeds US$5.

Lindsay Lohan with Blackberry Bold, Los Angeles, 2008.

The conventional wisdom in the IT industry used to be that the only things which last for decades are operating systems and languages.  The ability of companies like Microsoft and Adobe to achieve critical mass at the application level has disproved that but the tendency for products to achieve a seemingly unassailable dominance only rapidly to fade from use or even disappear as the market preference switches to something new, remains a feature of the industry.  Early in the twenty-first century, Research In Motion's (RIM) Blackberry mobile phone (named because the keys of the mechanical keyboard (vaguely) resembled the fruit’s drupelets) dominated the upper (ie most expensive) segment of the mobile phone market and the famous keyboard played a part in that, being so pleasant to use in an era when the most important (non-telephonic) aspect of the mobile phone was the inherently text-focused e-mail.  However, what really sold the things to corporations was RIM’s security layers (the traffic ran exclusively through their own servers which were in secure facilities in regions like Western Europe & North America) which provided what was at the time the most secure form of civilian communication.  Blackberries quickly became a status symbol but their technical model was a cul-de-sac and Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android prevailed, Blackberry market share in rapid decline by 2011 and neither re-branding nor corporate restructures could save the company.  The modern smartphones are better than the Blackberry in every way except the keyboard because there is (as yet), no way in which a touch-screen can emulate the seductive, tactile experience of the mechanical.