“Semper Fidelis” And Semantic Symbiosis
The Word Collector — part 12
This is the latest in a series of articles about new words and phrases collected during intrepid expeditions into the deep, dark, unexplored upper reaches of the literary wilderness, which is something of a hobby, and more productive than watching “Homeland” on Netflix again. Speaking of which, the first specimen comes from that very series about the world of American spycraft:
Semper fidelis — this is the Latin motto of the U.S Marine Corps, meaning “always loyal/faithful”, sometimes abbreviated to “semper fi”. If you served in the forces, or are a fan of war movies, you will be aware that it often accompanied by the less cultural and slightly alarming “Hooah”, in unison and at volume, which is one of those phrases of which the origin already seems uncertain, though it is most widely taken to mean “heard, understood, acknowledged” as in HUA.
As a former student of languages, including Latin, I sort of knew the semper fidelis phrase already but as so often at my age, needed reminding.
