machinations (plural of machination)
noun

- complicated and secret plans to gain power or control

Cambridge Dictionary

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WORD ORIGIN

The noun “machinations” has its origins in Late Middle English (around the 15th century). From Old French machinacion or directly from the Latin machinatio, meaning a contrivance or device. The deeper root being the Greek mēkhanē (μηχανή) – meaning device, instrument, or means.

In modern usage it is typically used in plural form (machinations) to emphasize a series of intricate or devious actions.

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MIND, MACHINE, MACHINATIONS

In the age before computers, a turbaned figure seated at a chess board captured Europe's imagination and started the discussion about "thinking machines". The seated figure was the so-called "Mechanical Turk", an ingenious deception created by Wolfgang von Kempelen in 1770.

Before each match, Kempelen would open a cabinet's doors to reveal an impressive array of clockwork machinery, showing the audience that no one could possibly be hidden inside. The Mechanical Turk would then proceed to play chess with remarkable skill, defeating many of the era's most prominent figures. It beat Benjamin Franklin in 1783, and in 1809 Napoleon Bonaparte famously attempted to outsmart it by making illegal moves, only to have the Turk sweep its arm across the board in apparent frustration, ruining the game.

The secret of the Turk's success lay in a cleverly designed sliding seat system that allowed a human chess master to hide inside the cabinet, moving between compartments as Kempelen displayed the machine's "inner workings" to audiences. The chess master could then invisibly track the game and control the Turk's movements using a sophisticated pantograph system.

What makes the Mechanical Turk particularly fascinating is how it inadvertently foreshadowed our modern relationship with artificial intelligence. Today, Amazon's "Mechanical Turk" platform deliberately references this historical hoax, using human intelligence to perform tasks that computers cannot yet manage – a digital version of the chess master hidden in the cabinet. The original Mechanical Turk was destroyed in a fire at Philadelphia's Chinese Museum in 1854, but it triggered discussions about AI which are ongoing to this day.

BTW, Wolfgang von Kempelen was an amazing inventor, whose fascinating life is well worth diving into.

Helga & Paul Smith

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SYNONYMS

artifice, backroom deals (plotting), behind-the-scenes moves, cabals, chicanery, cloak-and-dagger tactics, collusion, complots, connivance, cons, conspiracies, crafty dealings, cunning, deception, deviousness, devilment, dirty tricks, dodges, double-crossing, double-dealing, duplicity, flimflams, foul play, frame-ups, frauds, grifts, guile, hidden agenda, illicit plans, intrigues, jiggery-pokery, knavery, MACHINATIONS, manipulation, malpractice, maneuvers, palace intrigue, plans within plans, ploys and schemes, plots within plots, plot, power plays, ruses, scheming, secret dealings, shady dealings, shenanigans, skulduggery, stratagems, string-pulling, subterfuge, trickery, underhanded dealings, webs of deceit, wheeling and dealing

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SMUGGLE OWAD into an English conversation, say something like:

“I really enjoy the verbal MACHINATIONS that magicians use to distract us from what their hands are doing.”

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P L E A S E   S U P P O R T   O W A D

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