Editing Quid pro quo (section)

== Other meanings ==
For languages that come from Latin, such as Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and French, ''quid pro quo'' is used to define a misunderstanding or blunder made by the substituting of one thing for another. The Oxford English Dictionary describes this alternative definition in English as "now rare". The {{Lang|it|Vocabolario Treccani}} (an authoritative dictionary published by the Encyclopedia [[Treccani]]), under the entry "qui pro quo", states that the latter expression probably derives from the Latin used in late medieval pharmaceutical compilations.<ref name="Trecanni">{{cite web|work=Vocabulario Trecanni|url=http://www.treccani.it/vocabolario/qui-pro-quo/|title=qui pro quo|access-date=17 February 2014|language=it}}</ref> This can be clearly seen from the work appearing precisely under this title, "{{Lang|la|Tractatus quid pro quo|italic=no}}," (Treatise on what substitutes for what) in the medical collection headed up by {{Lang|la|Mesue cum expositione Mondini super Canones universales}}''...'' ({{Lang|la|Venice: per Joannem & Gregorium de gregorijs fratres|italic=no}}, 1497), folios 334r-335r. Some examples of what could be used in place of what in this list are: {{Lang|la|Pro uva passa dactili}} ('in place of raisins, [use] dates'); {{Lang|la|Pro mirto sumac}} ('in place of myrtle, [use] sumac'); {{Lang|la|Pro fenugreco semen lini}} ('in place of fenugreek, [use] flaxseed'), etc. This list was an essential resource in the medieval apothecary, especially for occasions when certain essential medicinal substances were not available.

Satirist [[Ambrose Bierce]] defined political influence as "a visionary ''quo'' given in exchange for a substantial ''quid''",<ref>{{cite book|title=The Devil's Dictionary|last=Bierce|first=Ambrose|author-link=Ambrose Bierce|url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/972/972-h/972-h.htm|publisher=[[Project Gutenberg]]|access-date=15 February 2014|year=2008}}</ref> making a pun on ''quid'' as a form of currency.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J6DHAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA314|title=The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary|last=Bierce|first=Ambrose|editor1-first=David E.|editor1-last=Schultz|editor2-first=S. T.|editor2-last=Joshi|publisher=[[University of Georgia Press]]|isbn=978-0-8203-2401-2|year=2001|access-date=2 November 2019}}</ref>

''Quid'' is slang for ''[[Pound sterling|pounds]]'', the British currency, originating on this expression as in: ''if you want the quo you'll need to give them some quid'', which explains the plural without ''s'', as in ''I gave them five hundred quid''.