Happy Friday! Today’s Dictionary.com Word of the Day is Turpitude. It finds its roots in the Latin term turpis meaning “base, vile”, entering English in the late 1400’s. Today, it is often paired with the word, “moral”. (See below)Happy Friday! Today’s Dictionary.com Word of the Day is Turpitude. It finds its roots in the Latin term turpis meaning “base, vile”, entering English in the late 1400’s. Today, it is often paired with the word, “moral”. (See below)

From Wikipedia:

Moral turpitude is a legal concept in the United States and some other countries that refers to “conduct that is considered contrary to community standards of justice, honesty or good morals. This term appears in U.S. immigration lawbeginning in the 19th century.

The concept of “moral turpitude” might escape precise definition, but it has been described as an “act of baseness, vileness, or depravity in the private and social duties which a man owes to his fellowmen, or to society in general, contrary to the accepted and customary rule of right and duty between man and man.”

Perpetrators of turpitude can be found, of course, filling our prisons, but I can think of a few other places where they might hang out! Here is my haiku then. Have a great weekend! 

Some fill our prisons,
Those guilty of turpitude,
Some are elected!

kat ~ 6 May 2016