Status quo

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Grammarist

The Latin loan phrase status quo, meaning literally the state in which, is used in English to mean the existing condition or state of affairs. The phrase usually serves as a noun, but it can also function as a phrasal adjective preceding a noun.

Status in quo is a longer, unnecessary variant of status quo, and status quo ante, mostly used in legal contexts, means the state of affairs at a previous time.

Because status quo means current state of affairs, the phrase current status quo is often redundant (with exceptions where a current state of affairs is being compared to a past one).

Examples

Our team is notorious for sticking with the status quo and not making waves. [Stampede Blue]

Gay rights advocates had lambasted the president for effectively supporting the status quo by compelling the Justice Department to defend the Defense of Marriage Act. [New York Observer]

A judge upholding the status quo is not as newsworthy as a judge radically altering it. [Washington Post]

Indeed, both the meaningful education reform and the status quo camps would probably agree, the national mood for the former has never been more on their side. [CNN International]