Philaristeia: Because English is not just English

A cappella - without musical accompaniment
A fortiori - with greater reason
A la (à la) - in the manner of
A la carte - according to a list that prices items separately
A la mode - fashionable
A posteriori - derived by reasoning from observed facts
A priori - ideas, arguments, and assumptions that are based on conjecture, prejudice, or abstract reasoning rather than real-world experience
Ab initio - from the beginning
Accoutrement - accessory
Achilles heel - a vulnerable point
Ad hoc - for the particular end or case at hand without consideration of wider applicatio
Ad hominem (usage) - an attack on an opponent's character rather than by an answerto the contentions made
Ad infinitum - without limit
Ad lib(itum) - without restraint
Ad nauseam - to a sickening or excessive degree
Adonis - a handsome young man
Aegis - the power to protect
Affidavit - a written report signed by a person who promises that the information is true
Aficionado - enthusiast
Agent provocateur - a person employed to encourage people to break the law so they can be arrested
Agitprop - propaganda
Aide memoire - an aid to the memory
Alfresco - in the open air
Alibi - excuse
Alpha and omega - the beginning and ending
Ambiance - atmosphere or mood
Amok - in an uncontrolled state
Amour propre - self-esteem
Anathema - something or someone disliked
Ancien regime - a system no longer prevailing
Annus horribilis - a disastrous year
Annus mirabilis - a remarkable year
Ante - price
Ante bellum - existing before a war
Aphrodisiac - something that causes sexual desire
Apropos - with respect to
Attaché - a specialist working with someone else in a diplomatic mission
Au contraire - on the contrary
Au courant - stylish
Au fait - expert
Au naturel - in a natural state
Avant-garde– intellectual who develops new or experimental concepts, especially in the arts
Bar mitzvah and bat mitzvah – a Jewish boy and a Jewish girl
Belle vs beau – beautiful vs lover
Berserk - crazed
Bête noire – a person or thing avoided (literally “black beast”)
Blitz – air raid
Blitzkrieg – a war conducted with great speed
Bona fide, bona fides – authentic, good faith
Bourgeois, bourgeoisie – characteristic of the middle class, social class
Caesar’s wife – the associates of public figures must not be suspected of wrongdoings
Canard – false report
Capiche, capeesh, capische, etc - understood
Carte blanche – full discretionary power
Casus belli – an action that justifies the war
Cause célèbre – notorious person (literally “celebrated case”)
Caveat – explanation to avoid misinterpretation
C'est la vie – that’s life
Ceteris paribus – elements remained unaltered
Comme ci, comme ça – like this, like that
Confidant vs. confidante – one to whom secrets are entrusted vs a woman
Cordon sanitaire – a protective barrier
Corpus delicti – material substance
Coup d’état – violent overthrow of an existing government
Coup de foudre – love at first sight (literally bolt og lightning)
Coup de grace – decisive finishing blow
Crème de la crème – the very best
Cri de Coeur – passionate outcry
Crise de conscience – crisis of conscience
Cui bono? – usefulness as a principle in estimating the value of an act or policy
Cul de sac – passage closed at one end
Cum – akin, related
Danse macabre – dance of death
De facto – in reality
De jure – based on laws
De mortuis nil nisi bonum – of the dead, nothing unless good
De rigueur – prescribed by fashion, etiquette or custom
Debacle – great disaster
Déjà vu – already seen, illusion of remembrance
Demeanor – behavior toward others
Deo volente – God being willing
Dictum – a note-worthy statement
Diktat – an order that must be followed
Divorcée, divorcé, divorcee – divorced woman, divorced man, divorced woman
Dolce vita – a life of indolence and self-indulgence
Doppelgänger – look alike, a ghostly counterpart of a living person
Double entendre – ambiguity of meaning, a word or expression that can be understood in two different ways usually referring to sex
Dreidel – a four-sided toy marked with Hebrew letters and spun like a top in a game of chance
Drivel – to talk carelessly
Du jour – made for particular day
E.g. vs. i.e. – in example vs that is
En masse – all together
En route – on or along the way
En vogue, in vogue – in fashion
Entente cordiale – cordial understanding
Ergo - therefore
Erratum - error
Ersatz - imitation
Esprit de corps – common spirit existing in a group
Et al. – and others
Et cetera (etc.) – and so on and so forth
Ex officio – because of your job, office or position
Ex post facto – after the fact
Fabian tactics – avoidance of decisive contest
Fait accompli – accomplished fact
Fatwah – a legal opinion of decree handed down by Islamic religious leader
Faux pas – social mistake
Femme fatale - seductress
Fiancé vs. fiancée – male vs female future spouse
Floreat – may flourish
Force majeure – act of God
Forte – strong point
Futz vs putz – fool around vs a stupid person
Gaudeamus - let us rejoice
Gesundheit – a wish of good health to someone who has sneezed
Gist – essence
Gordian knot – a complicated or difficult problem
Gung-ho – extremely excited, over zealous
Habeas corpus – an order to bring a jailed person before a judge or court to find out if that person should really be in jail
Halcyon days – times of peace
Hara-kiri – ritual suicide
Hippocratic oath – an oath embodying a code of medical ethics
Hoi polloi - commoners
Honoris causa – honorary degree
Ibid vs idem – in the same place vs the same as something previously mentioned
Imbroglio – a complex dispute of argument
Impasse – a situation where no progress seems possible
Imprimatur – official approval
In absentia – without being present
In extremis – at point of death
In memoriam – in memory of
In toto – as a whole
In vino veritas – in wine there is truth
Incognito - unseen
Inter alia - among other things
Interim – a period of time between events
Iota – a small amount
Ipso facto – by the fact itself
Je ne sais quoi – something pleasant that cannot be explained
Kamikaze – divine wind
Kaput – no longer working
Kowtow – show of deference
Laissez-faire – do as they choose, little interference by the government to businesses
Lingua franca – mother tongue
Magnum opus - masterpiece
Mandamus – a writ issued by a superior court commanding the performance of a specified official act or duty
Mea culpa – my fault
Memento mori – remember that you will die
Mens sana in corpore sano – a sound mind in a sound body
Mensch – a person of integrity or honor
Midas touch – ability to make money in every venture
Milieu - background
Modus operandi (m.o, MO) – standard operating procedure
Modus Vivendi – way of life, manner of living
Monibus – Omnibus - a volume containing several novels or other items previously published separately
Moratorium – suspension
Muumuu – a long Hawaiian dress
Nebbish – a timid, meek or ineffectual person
Noblesse oblige – the obligation of nobility
Noel or nowel – Christmas carol
Nom de plume - pseudonym
Non sequitur – does not follow
Nota bene – used to call attention to something important
Nouveau riche – new rich
Nunchucks – weapon
Omerta – a rule or code that prohibits divulging information about certain activities specially of a criminal organization
Pandora’s box – source of many troubles
Papabile – Papal canditate
Par excellence – better that all others
Per diem – per day
Per se – by itself
Persona non grata – refers to a foreign person whose entering or remaining in a particular place o country is prohibited (literally “unwelcomed person”)
Pooh-bah - a person who has a lot of power or influence
Prima facie - on its first encounter or at first sight
Primus inter pares - first among equals
Pro bono - professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment or at a reduced fee as a public service
Pro forma - used to describe a practice or document that is provided as a courtesy and/or satisfies minimum requirements, conforms to a norm or doctrine, tends to be performed perfunctorily and/or is considered a formality (literally “as a matter of form” or “for the sake of form”)
Pro patria - for one's country
Pros and cons - a shortening of the Latin expression "pro et contra" (for and against)
Protégé - a person who is guided and supported by an older and more experienced or influential person
Proviso - a condition attached to an agreement
Quasi - seemingly; apparently but not really
Quid pro quo - means an exchange of goods or services, where one transfer is contingent upon the other (literally “something for something”)
Quorum - minimum number of members of a deliberative assembly
RIP/requiescat in pace - a short epitaph or idiomatic expression wishing eternal rest and peace to someone who has died, may he/she rest in peace
Raison d’être - the thing that is most important to someone or something
Realpolitik - a system of politics based on a country's situation and its needs rather than on ideas about what is morally right and wrong
Repertoire or repertory - a type of theatrical presentation in which a company presents several works regularly or in alternate sequence in one season, a theatrical company that presents productions in this manner, storehouse
Requiem – a mass for a deceased person, a musical composition for such a mass
Restaurateur - a person who owns or manages a restaurant
Résumé - a summary
Rite de passage - rite of passage
Sang froid - the ability to stay calm in difficult or dangerous situations
Sans - without
Savoir faire - the ability to behave in a correct and confident way in different situations
Schadenfreude - a feeling of enjoyment that comes from seeing or hearing about the troubles of other people
Schmuck - an obnoxious or contemptible person
Shtick - a usual way of performing, behaving, speaking
Sic - thus
Simpatico - likable and easy to get along with
Sine die - without any future date being designated (as for resumption)
Sine qua non - something that is absolutely needed
Skullduggery - underhanded or unscrupulous behavior; trickery
Smorgasbord - a meal with many different foods that are placed on a large table so that people can serve themselves
Spartan - Rigorously self-disciplined or self-restrained (a citizen of Sparta)
Status quo - existing state of affairs, particularly with regards to social or political issues, the way things are now
Stet – let it stand
Sub judice - a particular case or matter is under trial or being considered by a judge or court, “under judgment”
Sub rosa – denote secrecy or confidentiality, “under the rose”
Subpoena - a writ issued by a government agency, most often a court, to compel testimony by a witness or production of evidence under a penalty for failure
Sui generis - in a class or group of its own
Summa cum laude or magna cum laude – with highest honor or with high honor
Tabula rasa - the mind before it receives the impressions gained from experience
Take the mickey out of someone - to tease or make fun of someone
Terra firma – solid earth
Tete-a-tete - a private conversation between two people
Toilette - formal or fashionable attire or style of dress, a particular costume or outfit
Touché or touché - used to admit that someone has made a clever or effective point in an argument
Tour de force - an exceptional achievement by an artist, author, or the like, that is unlikely to be equaled by that person or anyone else
Troika - a committee consisting of three members
Trojan horse - a person or thing intended secretly to undermine or bring about the downfall of an enemy or opponent, a hollow wooden statue of a horse in which the Greeks concealed themselves in order to enter Troy
Uber - denoting an outstanding or supreme example of a particular kind of person or thing
Ultra vires – beyond the scope or in excess of legal power or authority, “beyond the powers”
Vamoose - depart hurriedly
Verbatim - in exactly the same words as were used originally
Verklempt - chocked up with emotions
Vice versa – in reverse order from the way something has been stated, “the other way around”
Vis-a-vis - face-to-face with, in relation to
Viva voce - orally rather than in writing
Viz. - namely; in other words
Voilà - there it is; there you are
Vox populi - the opinions or beliefs of the majority
Whirling dervish - A person whose behavior resembles a rapid, spinning objects
Wunderkind - a person who achieves great success when relatively young
Zeitgeist - the defining spirit or mood of a particular period of history as shown by the ideas and beliefs of the time

Philaristeia

Friday, May 15, 2015

Because English is not just English

No comments:

Post a Comment