Status quo

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Status quo is a Latin phrase used to refer to the existing state of affairs.

It is the nominative form of the prepositional Latin phrase "in statu quo" – literally "in the state in which", which itself is a shortening of the original phrase "in statu quo res erant ante bellum", meaning "in the state in which things were before the war". To maintain the status quo is to keep the things the way they presently are. The related phrase "status quo ante", literally "the state in which before", means "the state of affairs that existed previously".

Leftist Wikipedia claims that the phrase is generally viewed negatively by social movements wanting some change and that people who want to maintain the status quo can be seen as being resistant to progress.

Part of this article consists of modified text from Wikipedia, and the article is therefore licensed under GFDL.