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Quid pro quo

Posted: Wed Nov 13, 2019 10:25 am
by Will Williams
There is a lot of back and forth chatter lately about this term, mostly related to Donald Trump's recorded telephone conversation with a fellow head of state, the president of Ukraine, back in July, for which Trump's political opponents are trying to impeach him. What does this term mean?
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Quid pro quo ("something for something" or "this for that" in Latin) means an exchange of goods or services, where one transfer is contingent upon the other. English speakers often use the term to mean "a favour for a favour"; phrases with similar meaning include: "give and take", "tit for tat", and "you scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours".

Example: Jewry to Britain in 1917, during World War I: You take Palestine away from Turkey and give it to us for a Jewish homeland and we'll get the United States in the war on your side against Germany. See: https://nationalvanguard.org/2017/12/th ... rs-part-2/

Re: Quid pro quo

Posted: Wed Nov 13, 2019 8:53 pm
by Colin
Will Williams wrote:There is a lot of back and forth chatter lately about this term, mostly related to Donald Trump's recorded telephone conversation with a fellow head of state, the president of Ukraine, back in July, for which Trump's political opponents are trying to impeach him. What does this term mean?
---
Quid pro quo ("something for something" or "this for that" in Latin) means an exchange of goods or services, where one transfer is contingent upon the other. English speakers often use the term to mean "a favour for a favour"; phrases with similar meaning include: "give and take", "tit for tat", and "you scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours".

Example: Jewry to Britain in 1917, during World War I: You take Palestine away from Turkey and give it to us for a Jewish homeland and we'll get the United States in the war on your side against Germany. See: https://nationalvanguard.org/2017/12/th ... rs-part-2/

What most do not understand is that Quid pro quo is what diplomacy is all about. We give nothing for free and there is always strings attached. If you don't have Quid pro quo then there must be forcible compliance. You either force them to do what you want or you give them something to get them to do it. Every trade agreement and treaty is a form of Quid pro quo.