FROM FOOLPROOF TO DICTATOR-PROOF

 My Random House Dictionary defines the suffix -proof as “a combining form meaning resistant or impervious to that specified by the initial element”: burglar-proof, child-proof, waterproof. An example I often cite is foolproof—something that even a fool cannot bungle, however hard he tries. Bulletproof, fireproof, rainproof, glitch-proof: the list seems endless. The Spanish equivalents a prueba de and resistente a would generally suffice.

In view of current world developments, I found myself paraphrasing Thomas R. Marshall’s famous line about national needs and arriving at the conclusion that what the world requires is good dictator-proof constitutions. I grant that such constitutions may be difficult to draft and implement; nevertheless, taking advantage of both the plasticity of English and Marshall’s cadence, I venture to suggest the necessity of tyrant- and dictator-proof mechanisms, so that people may live free.