A.Word.A.Day

cui bono

PRONUNCIATION:

MEANING:

noun: To whose benefit?

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin, literally, to whose advantage? Earliest documented use: 1604.

NOTES:

Cui bono is the idea that the responsibility for an act can usually be determined by asking who stands to gain as a result of the act. It's first recorded in a speech by Cicero attributing it to the Roman consul Lucius Cassius. If he were speaking today he would say: Follow the money.

USAGE:

"Cui bono? Surprise, surprise, it's the banks."

Carol Hunt; Debt Would Be a Release Next to This Travesty; Irish Independent (Dublin, Ireland); Jan 29, 2012.

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