6 Foreign Expressions You Should Know
Whether you like it or not, foreign expressions represent an integral part of the English language (and of many other languages, too). Knowing the meaning and usage of the most used ones is very important. First of all because it will enable you to understand pieces of text that include them. Secondly, because you might also need to use those expressions on particular situations (avoid using them just to sound smart though). Below you will find 6 foreign expressions commonly used in English, enjoy!
1. De Facto
De facto is a Latin expression that means “actual” (if used as an adjective) or “in practice” (if used as an adverb). In legal terms, de facto is commonly used in contrast to de jure, which means “by law.” Something, therefore, can emerge either de facto (by practice) or de jure (by law).
And what of the plastic red bench, which has served as his de facto home for the last 15 years and must by now be a collector’s item? (NY Times)
2. Vis-à-Vis
The literal meaning of this French expression is “face to face” (used as an adverb). It is used more widely as a preposition though, meaning “compared with” or “in relation to.”
It’s going to be a huge catalyst in moving the whole process forward and it really strengthens the U.S. position vis-a-vis our trading partners (Yahoo! News)
3. Status quo
This famous Latin expression means “the current or existing state of affairs.” If something changes the status quo, it is changing the way things presently are.
Bush believes that the status quo — the presence in a sovereign country of a militant group with missiles capable of hitting a U.S. ally — is unacceptable. (Washington Post)
4. Cul-de-sac
This expression was originated in England by French-speaking aristocrats. Literally it means “bottom of a sack,” but generally it refers to a dead-end street. Cul-de-sac can also be used metaphorically to express an action that leads to nowhere or an impasse.
But the code of omerta was in effect for two carloads of fans circling the cul-de-sac to have a look at the house. (Reuters.com)
A cul-de-sac of poverty (The Economist)
5. Per se
Per se is a Latin expression that means “by itself” or “intrinsically.”
The mistake it made with the Xbox is that there is no game console market per se; there are PlayStation, GameCube, and Xbox markets. (PCMag.com)
6. Ad hoc
Ad hoc, borrowed from the Latin, can be used both as an adjective, where it means “formed or created with a specific purpose,” and as an adverb, where it means “for the specific purpose or situation.”
The World Bank’s board on Friday ordered an ad hoc group to discuss the fate of President Paul Wolfowitz (CNN)
Daniel Scocco on June 18, 2007 
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I knew 3 out of the 6.
Good one.
I’ve always wondered what “sic” means? Why and how is used properly? BTW - love the site, great idea!
Wayne,
People often use SIC to highlight an error on quotes.
Example:
The NY Times article described “the new phenomenom [sic]” in the city.
grate article, very original and informative
I saw your comment on ProBlogger and followed it here to find your site. What a treat! As a writer I am always looking for new writing sites. This is a great list, by the way.
This is a very interesting list, although it’s not complete. There are many other foreign expressions that people should integrate into their vocabulary more often. Expressions like: “Cogito ergo sum”, “veni, vidi, vici”, “tete-a-tete”, “carpe diem”, etc. The more the better
Actually, we should all start learning Latin again
Yeah there are many others that could be included. I tried to focus on the ones that are “non-trivial” and widely used around newspapers.
“veni, vidi, vici” is for sure a nice latin phrase. But I think you would use it only if you are writing about ancient rome :).
I see Carpe Diem relatively frequently, but the others only come up when I’m playing Rome:Total War (A video game)
Thank you for the article though, it was very enlightening. Turns out I’ve been vis-a-vis incorrectly all this time.
Now how about enlightening us on the mysteries of a more common language, like English? For example, for non native English speakers like myself, what the heck is the difference between effect and affect?
Gal
Cul-de-sac
This expression was originated in England by French-speaking aristocrats. Literally it means “bottom of a sack,” but generally it refers to a dead-end street. Cul-de-sac can also be used metaphorically to express an action that leads to nowhere or an impasse.
I had no idea it meant bottom of a sack
60 in 3, I will cover effect and affect on a “ad hoc” post.
You can also read the comments over this post where some people already discussed about it:
http://www.dailywritingtips.co.....omplement/
60 in 3, There’s a pretty comprehensive site with a bunch of these “similar word pairs” here:
http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/errors.html
Nice article, you should do a follow up.
Interesting.
I didn’t know “cul-de-sac”.
@Gal:
The difference between affect and effect is pretty subtle, and native english speakers get it wrong all the time.
My understanding is that that “affect” is a verb while “effect” is a noun. See the following examples:
“The lighting in the presentation had a strong effect.”
versus
“That scene in the film did not affect me.”
I think you’ll often see “affect” used more in situations that deal with emotions. Notice the same kind of difference between:
“The attack was effective” and “My girlfriend is affectionate.”
I knew most of them meant, but not the literal origins.
Dave, either “affect” or “effect” can be used as either a noun or a verb.
“Affect” as a noun means “emotion”.
“Affect” as a verb means “to influence”.
“Effect” as a noun means “a result”.
“Effect” as a verb means “to accomplish”.
Bottom of a sack is the english translation word for word of cul-de-sac. But when we say that in french, yes it means dead-end street.
I think you guys use french’s expressions like “Déjà-vu”, and “Rendez-vous”. Im i wrong?
You should all speak french ^^.
I knew them all…
… But no glory about it!
I am a native french speaker and studied latin (among french, german end english) in high school.
BTW. cul de sac literally does not mean “bottom of bag” but “ass of bag” (cul means ass ant sack means bag…
Mabe you americans and brits should invest some time and energy into (really) learning a different language (you know, what ROW speaks).This knowledge would help you better understang community around you and/hopefully) stop playing such an unrealistic and endless role into most of the wars in the world now….
Bumpy, Dave, Daniel and Grant,
Thank you for your tips. Will read them through and see if I can make sense of them all. And Daniel, thank you for the joke
Gal
*scratches Cul-de-Sac*
i haven’t heard of number four before …
Back to the [sic] comment.
It is to show a quote in its orignal form. What i mean is including spelling mistakes and gramitcal errors. A stand quote won’t include a [sic] if it is grammitccally correct.
Ripped from Wikipedia
The word sic may be used either to show that an uncommon or archaic usage is reported faithfully: for instance, quoting the U.S. Constitution:
The House of Representatives shall chuse [sic] their Speaker…
or to highlight an error, often for the purpose of ridicule or irony, as in this example:
Warehouse has been around for 30 years and has 263 stores, suggesting a large fan base. The chain sums up its appeal thus: “styley [sic], confident, sexy, glamorous, edgy, clean and individual, with it’s [sic] finger on the fashion pulse
I think I have it - It’s used to show the writer isn’t the one making the mistake and it can also be a mistake that was done on purpose? Thanks!
This is good reading for all who plan to visit these countries…. better know what you might be saying without even trying to. http://pixelspotlight.com/
why not just learn proper english? lazy fks
Thought I’d share another one for you, as I was curious and just looked it up: ergo: (air-go)conj. Latin for “therefore,” often used in legal writings. Its most famous use was in Cogito, ergo sum: “I think, therefore I am” principle by French philosopher Rene Descartes (1596-1650).
Bumpy is right, but it should probably be said that there are stress and pronunciation differences between the verb and noun counterparts of affect.
affect (2nd syllable stress uh-fect) = verb
The price of gas affects travel.
affect (1st syllable stress aa-fect : same “a” sound as in “at”) = noun
She has a weird affect.
Actually, [sic] means “said in context”. It basically means that you are quoting someone who made an error, for example: “They misunderestimated [sic] me”, said Bush…
In addendum to the [sic] comments, It’s not only used to show grammatical errors, but used in a general term to mean that the spelling or information provided is correct and not a typo.
Say there is a man who has 250 cars was interviewed because he witnessed a crime… The 250 cars may be referenced but since it is not a main part of the article it may be thought of as a typo. [sic] may be used in such a situation to reaffirm that the stated information is not a typo.
“John Doe, a Local man and owner of 250 [sic] cars himself witnessed the crime”
This is a bad example, but you get the idea. [sic] simply means that something which might appear to be a writers error is intended to be as written and is not a typo.
6 is far too few. While I agree that one should know, inter alia, those listed above, I think a better list would be hundreds long.
I see “c’est la vie” (”such is life”) used a lot, but then again I am almost in Europe.
RE: Vis-à-Vis.. I think you believe the word “Vis” should mean visage(face). However, the word “vis” means screw(the drywall type).
Great article!
Thanks,
http://www.politicalmanifesto.com
Umm…
Since when is a dead end street a cul de sac? Last time I checked, a dead end street was exactly that. A dead end. Meaning, you go along until the road doesn’t connect to any other streets and terminates in someone’s yard or something of that nature. You’re forced to turn around in the nearest driveway, once you’ve realized your mistake. A cul de sac is also a road that doesn’t connect to another street, but instead of it just ending without any notice, there’s a round turn-around at the end. Similar to the shape of a needle, but more like “the bottom of a sack”. Duh!
ADregely, I did not say “vis” means face in French.
Vis-à-vis, though, should mean face to face, which is what I wrote.
Its nice to see this list, but it would also be helpful if the pronounciation of these words/phrases was mentioned. for example, vis-a-vis is pronounces we-a-we (or am i wrong?)
Humm, perhaps I’m wrong, but the “cul” in “cul-de-sac” is kind of a slang, means “asshole”. I’m not a latin student, but portuguese is my first language, and we have the word “cu” for “asshole”.
Erm…ad hoc means “NOT specific”. An ad hoc group doing things ad hoc is actually a bunch of random people doing some things with no real plan.
@Claudio, “cul-de-sac” has nothing to do with “asshole.” It comes from the French, not from the Latin… and while “cul” do stand for “ass” the expression has a complete different meaning.
@Joseph, I also believe your definition for “ad hoc” is wrong. What source did you use to verify that?
Check the Wikipedia entry for that:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_hoc
In my experience Ad hoc is more frequently used in its other sense, of something improvised, created on the apur of the moment.
Vis-à-vis also means accross, like in “the coffee shop is vis-à-vis the bank”.
[sic], funny i’ve always thought it stood only for “same in context” - which is, i guess, a good way to remember what it means.
Anyone knows if it is used in other written languages?
I am also in doubt regarding SIC now. The usage is clear, but I am not sure if it really comes from the Latin sic or if it is an acronym as people mentioned. I will research about it.
As far as I know, sic is used in other languages as well and it comes from the Latin sic, meaning ’so’ or ‘like that’.
Same sic appears in the Latin proverb: Sic transit gloria mundi - So passes the glory of the World.
Great article Daniel, here are my suggestions for the sequel: nota bene, circa, enfant terrible, faux pas and of course menage a trois.
“sic” means “this is how the dumb idiot we’re quoting put it, it’s not a typographical error on our part”.
I agree with you Jim. I studied Latin a long time ago and teach English at present (and use proofreading symbols). “Sic” means “so” or “as” in Latin, and when used in proofing means “as written.”
Also forgotten:
“Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.”
Cody, yeah I think I’ve read that on the Wall Street Journal the other day
ha there was a kid at my highschool who always used per se wrong basically just attaching it to everyother word.
The very, very litteral meaning of cul-de-sac would actually be the ass of a sack, but it’s become such a normal expression, no one, even in France, really considers “ass” being vulgar in that context.
This site is cute. The responses varied, yet telling.
Many of the words presented here today are (or used to be) the mainstay (aha backbone) of my profession, withholding of course, what that profession was!
Certain words excite me. I wonder if this group has any words that just seem to dazzle them when they hear them spoken?
One particular word I love is “Synecdoche’s.” Another is “Soliloquy.” I have so many more that I love…
Do any of you have words you love?
Thanks for such a gleeful and refreshing board.
ryke
neither in catalunya, spain, where we speak catalan. the words mean the same in catalan other in french, dought does two languages are very close.
I believe the issue with cul-de-sac might be solved by looking at the word cul. It can mean kill, ass, bottom. All of these words can be replaced by the word END. I think the original translation would have been END which can relate to killing: end life, one’s ass= one’s end. And the end or bottom of the sac. Just a supposition but I think this may be feesable.
these words can be commonly found on articles related to law as to the rules and some bills. i have encountered these six words from high school and mostly in college years. they are more likely to be tricky in some times for those who never come across these foreign words.
Try ‘Cuius testiculos habes, habeas cardia et cerebelum’.
Or, ‘Ave duci nova, similis duci seneci’.
They’re two of my favourites from early school days.
David
sic is from latin meaning “as it was”; so if there was a spelling mistake in quote in an article, the writer would add [sic] after it to show that was the original spelling
Another might be vice versa…
I really this kind of posts (I read similar one at Copyblogger’s). They are essential for non-natives trying to maintain a quality blog.
Thanks so much.
P.S.
I met Carpe Diem here. It roughly means “seize the day”.
Knew each and every one of those.
How wonderful for stuff to happen.
An oldy but goody was ‘Carpe jugulum’, or go for the throat.
I’m french and i use also :
“De Visu” : “I want see it de visu” (with my eyes) -Latin-
For Ad Hoc- MS Word thesaurus has unplanned, informal, impromptu, improvised, off the cuff etc for ad hoc- quiet the opposite. I’m not sure which is correct but Word being so popular most people are likely to beleive it. its odd that a word could be known and used with an opposite meaning rather than a similar one….
HE,,HE…
Nice list, very useful. Thank you for it!
Useful list. Another quite usual expression is “ipso facto” thta means something like “right now”
I think the confusion about ad hoc is that it usually refers to a short term scenario. An ad hoc commission might be formed on short notice to address a single issue and then dissolved, as opposed to a standing committee that deals with an ongoing set of issues. It gives a sense of being impromptu, but that specific purpose or situation is still what defines the phrase.
i know 5 out of the 6..
Ad hoc means “to this” “for this” (translating latin - my language, then my language - english, not really elegant). I like Word’s explanations. Vis-à-vis’ meaning as an expression (it has “-” between the words, therefore is not ment litterally I would say) was explained above.
Interesting site, a bit more research would not hurt, though. There are free Latin dictionaries on the web.
frl, it is quite difficult to follow your line of though.
Anyway the literal translation of some Latin words and expressions is of no use when it comes to their usage within the English language.
Interesting comment, but a bit more research would not hurt
.
Thanks for this particular list. As you point out, these phrases are similar in frequency of usage, and similar also in the kinds of material where they are found. Other phrases would have great value, if added to this article, yet would change the concept which lumped these not-quite-randomly-selected phrases together. Besides, covering other phrases leaves room for other articles.
I find the explanation for ‘ad hoc’ to be subtly different than the context I usually associate with the phrase.
And ad hoc committee is certainly a frequent usage. But I think of ad hoc as being the opposite of well planned. Committees are usually designed, budgeted, apportioned and assigned at the start of a term for an organization. An ad hoc committee would be formed *outside* this planning process. So, yes, ‘purpose built’ could apply, from one perspective, but purpose built sounds similar to having skilled craftsmen custom build a display case. In the latter case, the result is specially crafted, tailored, and produced to meet a specific and exacting need.
I usually think of ad hoc as ‘this was handy’ type construction, that the first thing that kind of worked was put into use, with little planning, whatever craftsmanship that happened to be applied was what was available, rather than what was specified. Ad hoc implies there was no specification or agreed upon plan. “He kicked through the wall, and ducked out the ad hoc exit.”
Similar to ‘jerry rigged’, ad hoc means, to me, ‘made do’. Ad hoc describes the process of forming the committee, and might imply the possibility of impaired function due to limited planning in establishing the committee. Outside using ‘ad hoc’ to describe committees, I find ad hoc also describes how a process or procedure came to be applied - someone thought it might be a good enough idea at the time. The opposite of ad hoc would be planned, reviewed, and with consensus.
Oops! Instead of “Outside using “, I meant “Aside from using”
At first I was suprised that these six “foriegn” words or phrases needed explanation, they are in common usage in England and they are in the OED (Oxford English Dictionary) having been subsumed into English.
Then I read the many comments and realised that this site is primarily used by Americans and others for whom English is not their first language (you may read the conjuction however you wish) and I would like to commend you on knowing your audience and on the clarity of your explanation (except for sic - the explanation there was very poor - Jim, comment 47, explained it the best).
Daily Writing Tips Vocabulary Test 1
Posted: 31 Oct 2007 10:04 AM CDT
Different from, Different to, Different than
I was wondering if i can be indifferent to someone (in the sense of lack of interest ), can I say I am different to someone to mean the opposite?
I resd this tekst, i think it’s realy interesting and worth reading
Can Bid-Adieu be added to the list?
cul de sac = dead end street
a few years ago, there was indonesian movie called kuldesak, i believe person who give title to that movie was inspired by the word cul de sac.
To be honest, for me the ” cul de sac” idiom is new for me. In order to widen our knowledge,it is better if daillywritingtips could update foreigh expression regularly.
many thanks
i gede
I’ve just joined this sight I enjoyed the Yidish words,grammer and now the foriegn words. I want to thank the author. I plan to study more. I will only post this one time though. I want to know why do so many people spend so much time typing away and often saying negative things about and to people. they must be sooooooooo loooooooooooonely.
I admit it is difficult not to read some of them after your writing/lessons but I don’t enjoy it. Most of them at least, it is like watching a car wreck. So I will just finish by saying; yes, I’m writing this once, but please most of you leave your computer! Get a life. Make some friends.
“Cuius testiculos habes, habeas cardia et cerebelum”
heh. sadly, i’m a chick.
kinjal, that is very not how you pronounce it. it’s vees-a-vee - basically how it looks. usually the esses are silent in french but the first one here is special because it’s in front of a vowel.
also, to whoever made the dumb remark about how we should just learn proper english instead… that’s pretty ignorant. a lot of these phrases don’t have an exact analogue in english, which is why people use them. it’s not to sound pretentious, it’s to get the point across better.
one of my favourites is l’esprit de l’escalier (i don’t know how to do accents in this text box). it refers to that moment when you’re walking away from a conversation and you suddenly think of the devastatingly clever and witty comment you should have made several minutes ago when, instead, you responded by looking at your feet and mumbling something lame.
I always thought sic mean’t spelt in context
Very useful! I will try to use them in my blog some day. Very interesting. I think they will improve my writing skill. Thank you very much!
Sincerely,
Dingchao
Should these foreign phrases be italicized?
Thanks for useful info about expressions!
i wanna improve my english in both oral and writing
plaese help me i was learning speaking english……
i believe if often that articel can easly understanding language english
i believe Ahmad Dani from DEWA band was inspired by the word cul de sac in his song that title kuldesak, i think he not creative!
i wont improv my writing
Hmmm…
I thought per se meant as such….
And yeah…there’s one more popular one called C’est la vie…meaning that’s life.
It is informative and mostly these foreign expressions were found in newspapers which were very confusing.
YES ! I THINK SO THIS IS THE GREAT WAY WILL BE , WE CAN DO IMPROVE OUR WRITING ENGLISH BUT SOME TIMES MAKE TO AS SOME PROBLMES LIKE THAT . IF WE WANT TO WRITING SOME THINGS DURING THE WRITING WE FORGET SOME THINGS THEN IT MAKE OUR SELF SO MUCH UNHAPPY , BECAUSE OF THINKIG MUCH ABOUT IT UNTIL WE CAN REMEMBER THEM AGINE ADN AGINGE . SO I DO WISH I BE FACE WITH MUCH POLIT PEOPLE IN THE WORLD OF ENGILSH LEARNING .
Jason: Actually, [sic] means “said in context”. It basically means that you are quoting someone who made an error, for example: “They misunderestimated [sic] me”, said Bush…
Folk etymology. (meaning not true). I’ve never heard that one before.
ADegely: Vis-à-Vis.. I think you believe the word “Vis” should mean visage(face). However, the word “vis” means screw(the drywall type).
You should note that most French terms used in English are medieval, not modern; it really does mean “face”.
felia: Vis-à-vis also means across, like in “the coffee shop is vis-à-vis the bank”.
It’s the same meaning. If the coffee shop is across from the bank, it’s “face to face” with the bank; though I think you’d have to say “vis-à-vis TO the bank”. It can also be used as a noun (or maybe it’s a substantive adjective)
ElGigante Verdoso: Useful list. Another quite usual expression is “ipso facto” thta means something like “right now”
It means “by that fact itself”, or “by that very fact”.
Daniel: Anyway the literal translation of some Latin words and expressions is of no use when it comes to their usage within the English language.
Example?
Richa: I was wondering if i can be indifferent to someone (in the sense of lack of interest ), can I say I am different to someone to mean the opposite?
No.
great….i need to practice my english.
I learned something. Cul-de-Sac.
Thanks.
Found this through Dumb Little Man - really interesting piece.
I knew how/where to use all 6 of these, but I didn’t know where they came from or their “meanings,” as it were. I never knew ‘cul-de-sac’ translates literally as ‘bottom of a sack,’ for example. Really interesting.
I use “ibid.” a lot. Again, I know how/where to use it but I have no idea how it came to be used or what it means. I assume it’s from Latin - anyone know?
and @ SaltyDawg… I think there is a rule about italics. It depends how “naturalised” a foreign phrase as become in the English language. I don’t think you’d italicise “c’est la vie” or “ad hoc,” but you probably would with “per se” (it seems to lend itself to italics just for emphasis anyway) and “vis-a-vis.” Interesting question. Is there a rule, anyone?
I really didn’t know them
they were good to know thank you very much
The subject above was very interesting because, ive never heard some of these words, or have heard them and didnt know what they meant. it related to ch. 1 because ch.1 talked about how english comes from many different languages and some of the difficulties people have from learing it as a second language.
well i think the subject was very very very interesting because i have never heard of words like. but they were very interesting and weird so thats all i got to say about that.
This article was related to chapter 1 because it is telling you how to communicate across cultures. It expresses how important it is to not use foreign expressions if your audience is not suited for it. The article says not use such foreign expressions to sound smart because it will only make you sound foolish. This article is just another you can communicate across cultures depending on your audience.
Interesting list.
It’s a big advantage speaking different languages and knowing as non-English Native Speaker immediately what is meant.
Funny enough: We use in German all these expressions except “cul de sac”
Have fun and success
Yani
Let me make my educated attempt at “affect” and “effect”.
As a verb:
“affect” means to have an influence on something; to change it
“effect” means to bring something into being
Some languages use different tenses for affected objects and effected objects.
As a noun:
The nominalization of both “affect” and “effect” is “effect”, which is very confusing.
“Affect” as a noun has the additional meanings stated above.
And to agree with a previous poster, I have always heard “cul-de-sac” to refer to a dead end street with a rounded end, there usually being at least 3 houses on the rounded part.
Here’s a foreign expression I love, “That wants to be a ” for something that’s not up to standards. It comes from German. I’ve never heard it used in English.