The secret of the word diplomacy – 03/27/2024 – Sérgio Rodrigues

You know it’s time to talk about the history of the word “diplomacy” when the Brazilian government toughens its tone with the authoritarian regime of Nicolás Maduro, which it previously supported, and a spectacular scoop from The New York Times reveals to the world the strange hotel service offered to former president Jair Bolsonaro by the Hungarian embassy.

Diplomacy is a relatively recent word in our language, arriving here in the 1930s — more or less at the time when a certain Machado de Assis was born in Rio de Janeiro. It was imported from the French “diplomatie” with its current meaning.

The original word, however, came from a noun and adjective with a very different meaning, “diplomatique”. Dating from 1708, this meant, according to the Trésor de la Langue Française reference, “science that has as its object diplomas, letters and other official documents, their authenticity, their integrity, their age and their variations over time”.

As you can see, the similarity between the diploma —a word born in Greek with the meaning of a document folded in half— and diplomacy is far from being a red herring. Yes, they are related words, but what does one have to do with the other?

The first hypothesis is disconcertingly simple. Today, almost exclusively, the restricted meaning of “document granted by an educational institution”, the second meaning of diploma in Houaiss, obscures what was chronologically the first in our language, “official document issued by an authority, which grants a right, a position, a privilege.”

In this, more generic, there are traces of an almost secret transition from diploma to diplomacy. Among the rights granted by power was, according to the Latin-Portuguese dictionary Saraiva, the “authorization to travel at the expense of the State” — and to negotiate on behalf of a nation.

This etymological filigree would still be encoded today in the ritual in which ambassadors present, as their first act in office, their “letters of credentials” to the head of state of the country to which they were appointed.

The second thesis sees a diploma, in this case, as a metonym for the set of agreements, treaties and other documents that govern international relations. It is not impossible that both factors contributed to the success of the word.

What is certain is that the activity of state officials dedicated to international relations became “diplomatie” in the language of Charles de Gaulle — who, like so many generals, disliked the category and left history with a famous diatribe: “Diplomats are only useful with good weather. As soon as it starts to rain, they drown in every drop.”

No surprise there. Ideally at least, the job of diplomats is to prevent wars. That of the generals ultimately depends on their not being avoided.

Speaking of generals, it is important to remember that next Monday, April 1st, the 1964 military coup turns 60 years old. The corrupt and murderous dictatorship he inaugurated lasted until March 1985.

Enough time for me to transform from a baby into an adult, with a lot of stupid moral and civic lessons and a lot of diffuse fear of snitch in between. I was lucky. It is above all out of respect for the direct victims of State violence and their descendants that the date cannot go unnoticed, as Lula would like it to.

LINK PRESENT: Did you like this text? Subscribers can access five free accesses from any link per day. Just click the blue F below.