SNP’s word of the day: Camarilla

Word: Camarilla

Meaning: A private, often secret, even sinister group of unelected advisors surrounding a leader or ruler; a cabal.

Usage: “SEKVIA’S DARK OUTLOOK; King Peter Dominated by the Military Camarilla. Prospects Are That Radicals Will Win at Approaching Election—King Peter May Then Leave the Country.” – a New York Times cablegram in 1903. (Sekvia, by the way, was in the Balkans… I think.)

You should know it because: Practically the whole North American liberal intelligentsia is talking about the new book about the Obamas, The Obamas by Jodi Kantor. Maureen Dowd is talking about it too, and has derived from it some of her sharpest-yet criticism of Barack Obama (don’t worry, she goes after Newt Gingrich, too). From her New York Times column yesterday: “Kantor writes that the Obamas, feeling misunderstood, burrowed into “self-imposed exile”—a “bubble within the bubble”—with their small circle of Chicago friends, who reinforced the idea that “the American public just did not appreciate their exceptional leader.”

Powerful but insecure leaders often rely on a clique of yes men (and yes women), and the Spanish-origin, English-adopted word camarilla describes such a group perfectly. The group does not seek power for itself; in that case, they’d be a “junto.” No, they merely wish to preserve their leader-friend’s power, from which they undoubtedly benefit. Etymologically, camarilla comes from the Spanish word for chamber, and thus signifies a private penetralia-like roomful of advisors—or sycophants. It’s a rich word, one I wish we used more often; plus, it sounds like a rap name. Camarilla on the hilla, yo!

The post SNP’s word of the day: Camarilla appeared first on FASHION Magazine.