In an article in today's Halifax Chronicle-Herald, a Canadian reporter used three Latin words and phrases. What was the subject of the article? The larger-than-life Donald Trump! Here are the relevant sentences:
"That value system doesn't abide turning the other cheek. Rather, it responds to every ounce of criticism with a multi-tonne, Mack truck of ad-hominem degradation."
"His current political targets, John McCain, Rick Perry, Lindsey Graham, Carly Fiorina, and Fox News personality Megyn Kelly, will recognize the modus operandi spelled out in that old book chapter."
"His aversion to forgiveness is deeply ingrained. His words in a 25-year-old interview... are a near-verbatim replica of what he's told political talk shows in recent days."
Ad-hominem here is a Latin prepositional phrase turned into an adjective; the prepositional phrase means "to/towards a human" and describes a rhetorical attack directed to a person rather than to an argument.
Modus operandi is a Latin noun phrase meaning "method of working or of operating."
Verbatim is a Latin adverb meaning "word by word."
Interestingly all three of these words were not italicized in the context of the article; these Latin words have become English words!
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