Editing Mutatis mutandis

{{short description|Medieval Latin phrase}}
{{for|the album|Mutatis Mutandis (album)}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Wiktionary}}
'''''Mutatis mutandis''''' is a [[Medieval Latin]] phrase meaning "with things changed that should be changed" or "once the necessary changes have been made", literally: having been changed, going to be changed.<ref name="Fennell">{{cite book  | last = Fennell
  | first = Charles Augustus Maude, Ed. 
  | title = The Stanford Dictionary of Anglicised Words and Phrases
  | publisher = University Press, Cambridge
  | date = 1891
  | page = [https://archive.org/details/stanforddiction00unkngoog/page/n579 563]
  | url = https://archive.org/details/stanforddiction00unkngoog
  | quote = mutatis mutandis.
  }}</ref><ref name="Adams">{{cite book   
  | last = Adams
  | first = Kenneth A. 
  | title = A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting
  | publisher = American Bar Association
  | date = 2004
  | page = [https://archive.org/details/manualo_ada_2004_00_2405/page/160 160]
  | url = https://archive.org/details/manualo_ada_2004_00_2405
  | url-access = registration
  | quote = mutatis mutandis.
  | isbn = 978-1590313800}}</ref><ref name="Mogck">{{cite book   
  | last = Mogck
  | first = Brian David 
  | title = Writing To Reason: A Companion for Philosophy Students and Instructors
  | publisher = John Wiley and Sons
  | date = 2008
  | page = 46
  | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=MTm1r4mdLWwC&dq=%22mutatis+mutandis&pg=PA46
  | isbn = 978-1405170994}}</ref> It continues to be seen as a foreign-origin phrase (and thus, unnaturalized, meaning not integrated as part of native vocabulary) in [[English language|English]] and is therefore usually [[italics|italicized]] in writing. It is used in many countries to acknowledge that a comparison being made requires certain obvious alterations, which are left unstated. It is not to be confused with the similar ''[[ceteris paribus]]'', which excludes any changes other than those explicitly mentioned. ''Mutatis mutandis'' is still used in [[law]], [[economics]], [[mathematics]], [[linguistics]] and [[philosophy]]. In particular, in [[logic]], it is encountered when discussing [[counterfactual conditional|counterfactuals]], as a shorthand for all the initial and derived changes which have been previously discussed.

{{anchor|Etymology|Origin}}
==Latin==
The phrase ''{{lang|la|{{linktext|mutatis mutandis}}}}''—now sometimes written ''{{lang|la|mūtātīs mūtandīs}}'' to show [[vowel length]]—does not appear in surviving [[Classical Latin|classical literature]]. It is [[Medieval Latin]]<ref name=oed>''Oxford English Dictionary'', 3rd&nbsp;ed. 'mutatis mutandis, ''adv.''' Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2003.</ref> in origin and the [[Feet of fines]], kept at [[The National Archives (United Kingdom)]], contains its first use in England on January 20, 1270, at Pedes Finium, 54 Hen. III, Salop.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Eyton|first=Robert William|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kvU9AQAAMAAJ&dq=mutatis+mutandis+%221272%22&pg=PA244|title=Antiquities of Shropshire|date=1855|publisher=J.R. Smith|language=en}}</ref>

Both words are [[participle]]s of the [[Latin]] [[verb]] ''{{lang|la|{{linktext|mutare}}}}'' ('to move; to change; to exchange'). ''{{lang|la|[[wikt:mutatus|Mutatus, -a, -um]]}}'' is its [[perfect tense|perfect]] [[passive voice|passive]] participle ('changed; having been changed'). ''{{lang|la|[[wikt:mutandus|Mutandus, -a, -um]]}}'' is its [[gerundive]], which functions both as a [[future tense|future]] [[passive voice|passive]] participle ('to be changed; going to be changed') and as a verbal adjective or noun expressing necessity ('needing to be changed; things needing to be changed').  The phrase is an [[Ablativus absolutus|ablative absolute]], using the [[ablative case]] to show that the clause is grammatically independent ('absolute' literally meaning 'dissolved' or 'separated') from the rest of the sentence.

{{anchor|Plain English}}

==English==
''Mutatis mutandis'' was first [[loanword|borrowed]] into [[English language|English]] in the 16th century, but continues to be [[italics|italicized]] as a foreign phrase.<ref name=oed/> Although many similar [[adverbial phrase]]s are treated as part of the sentence, ''mutatis mutandis'' is usually set apart by [[comma]]s or in some other fashion. The nearest English equivalent to an ablative absolute is the [[nominative absolute]], so that a literal translation will either use the [[nominative case]] ("things changed which are to be changed") or a [[prepositional phrase|preposition]] ("with the things to be changed having been changed"). More often, the idea is expressed more tersely ("with the necessary changes") or using [[subordinating conjunctions]] and a [[dependent clause]] ("once the necessary adjustments are made").

The phrase has a technical meaning in [[mathematics]] where it is sometimes used to signal that a proof can be more generally applied to other certain cases after making some, presumably obvious, changes. It serves a similar purpose to the more common phrase, "[[without loss of generality]]"<ref>{{cite book
|title=	An Accompaniment to Higher Mathematics
|first=	George R. 
|last=Exner
|publisher=	Springer Science & Business Media 
|year=2012
|isbn= 9781461239987
|page=61
}}</ref> (WLOG).

The [[legal Latin|legal use]] of the term is somewhat specialized. As glossed by [[Shira Scheindlin]], judge for the [[United States District Court for the Southern District of New York|Southern District]] of [[Courts of New York|New York]], for a 1998 case: "This Latin phrase simply means that the necessary changes in details, such as names and places, will be made but everything else will remain the same."<ref>{{Cite court |litigants = In re McMahon |vol = 235 |reporter = B.R. |opinion = 527 |pinpoint = 536, footnote 7 |court = S.D.N.Y. |date = 30 Nov 1998 |url=https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=1552575106454200922&q=235+B.R.+527&hl=en&as_sdt=2,44}}</ref> In the wake of the [[Plain English|Plain English movements]], some countries attempted to replace their law codes' [[legal Latin]] with English equivalents.

===Examples===
* "I believe the soul in Paradise must enjoy something nearer to a perpetual vigorous adulthood than to any other state we know. At least that is my hope. Not that Paradise could disappoint, but I believe Boughton is right to enjoy the imagination of heaven as the best pleasure of this world. I don't see how he can be entirely wrong, approaching it that way. I certainly don't mind the thought of your mother finding me a strong young man. There is neither male nor female, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but, ''mutatis mutandis'', it would be a fine thing. That ''mutandis''! Such a burden on one word!"—[[Marilynne Robinson]], ''[[Gilead (novel)|Gilead]]''.
*"To illustrate the point with trivial stereotypical examples from British society: just as male heterosexuals are free to enjoy themselves playing rugby, drinking beer and talking about girls with their mates, so male homosexuals are to be free to enjoy themselves going to Kylie concerts, drinking exotically coloured cocktails and talking about boys with their straight female mates. ''Mutatis mutandis''—and in many cases the adaptations would obviously be great—the same must apply to other societies. In other words, [[gay men]] are to be as free as their straight equivalents in the society concerned to live their lives in the way that is natural to them as gay men, without the fear of persecution."—[[Alan Rodger, Baron Rodger of Earlsferry|Lord Rodger of Earlsferry]], ''[[HJ and HT v Home Secretary]]'', [[Supreme Court of the United Kingdom|British Supreme Court]], 2010

==Other languages==
The phrase appears in other European languages as well. A passage of [[Marcel Proust]]'s ''[[In Search of Lost Time|À la recherche du temps perdu]]'' includes "...j'ai le fils d'un de mes amis qui, mutatis mutandis, est comme vous..." ("A friend of mine has a son whose case, ''mutatis mutandis'', is very much like yours.") The [[German Ministry of Justice]], similar to the Plain English advocates above, now eschews its use. Their official English translation of the [[German Civil Code|Civil Code]] now reads:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/englisch_bgb/englisch_bgb.html|title=German Civil Code BGB|website=www.gesetze-im-internet.de}}</ref>

<blockquote>"Section 27 (Appointment of and management by the board). ...(3) The management by the board is governed by the provisions on mandate in sections 664 to 670 ''with the necessary modifications.''"</blockquote>

==In popular culture==
The phrase is used as the motto of [[Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters]] from the [[X-Men]] [[Marvel Comics]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Evans |first1=William |last2=Holmon |first2=Omar |title=Black Nerd Problems: Essays |date=14 September 2021 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-1-9821-5023-5 |page=161 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O24NEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22Mutatis+mutandis%22+xavier&pg=PA161 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Conley |first1=Nicholas |title=15 Things You Need To Know About Charles Xavier's School For Gifted Youngsters |url=https://screenrant.com/x-men-xaviers-school-for-gifted-youngsters-trivia-facts/#there-s-a-school-motto |access-date=23 February 2024 |work=[[Screen Rant]] |date=1 July 2016 |language=en}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Dependent and independent variables]]
* [[List of Latin phrases]]
* ''[[Nunc pro tunc]]'' ("now for then", legal term with similar effect)
* [[Substitution (logic)|Substitution]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mutatis Mutandis}}
[[Category:Concepts in logic]]
[[Category:Latin legal terminology]]
[[Category:Latin logical phrases]]
[[Category:Legal reasoning]]

[[de:Liste lateinischer Phrasen/M#Mutatis]]
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