the.com/modus operandi
Latin for the pattern you swear you'll never repeat, then do.
means A person's or entity's characteristic way of operating — the habitual method behind how they get things done, legal or otherwise.
from Straight from Latin: 'modus' meaning 'method' or 'manner,' and 'operandi' meaning 'of operating,' from the verb 'operari,' to work or labor (the same root that gives us 'operate' and 'opera'). It entered English as a formal legal and scientific phrase — used to describe a defendant's typical method of crime, or a scientist's standard procedure — before spreading into everyday speech. Often shortened to 'M.O.,' especially by detectives and anyone narrating their own bad habits.
- origin
- Latin, literally method of operating
- cop shorthand
- detectives call it M.O., not accident
- not motive
- explains the how, never the why
- applies broadly
- works for criminals, companies, and exes alike