Raison d’etre is French for reason of being. In English, we use it to mean a reason for the existence of a person or thing. In reference to people, it often describes one’s driving passion. For example, if the reason you get up in the morning is to work in your garden, then gardening is your raison d’etre. [Read more...]
Modus operandi (m.o, MO)
Modus operandi, often abbreviated m.o. or MO, is Latin for way of working. In English, the loanword is usually used to mean a way in which someone routinely does something, but it can also be used more generally to mean mode of operation. [Read more...]
Ad infinitum
In Latin, ad infinitum means to infinity. As a loan phrase in English, it sometimes means to infinity, but it’s usually used as an adverb meaning endlessly or without limit. As in the examples below, it usually follows the verb or verb phrase it modifies. Ad infinitum is well established in English, so it does not need to be italicized in normal use. [Read more...]
Persona non grata
In Latin, persona non grata means, literally, person not welcome, from which the loan phrase’s English definition can be inferred. It means fully unacceptable or unwelcome, and it also works as a noun meaning an unacceptable or unwelcome person. Its Latin plural, should you ever need it, is personae non gratae. [Read more...]
Avant-garde
The French loan phrase avant-garde, which translates literally to before guard, originally applied to the front part of an army. But today, in both English and French, the word relates to innovation, especially artistic. [Read more...]
Au contraire
In French, au contraire means, literally, on the contrary, and that’s exactly what this loan phrase means in English. It’s often used to mean, roughly, I beg to differ, and it usually creates a humorous or sarcastic tone. [Read more...]
Vamoose
The English word vamoose is a verb meaning to depart. The word is American in origin, and it’s thought to derive from the Spanish vamos, which means let’s go.1 [Read more...]
Wunderkind
In German, wunder means wonder, and kind means child. So the German loanword wunderkind literally means wonder child.1 In practical usage in English, though, the word usually denotes (1) a child prodigy, or (2) a talented person who achieves great success at a young age.2 [Read more...]
A cappella
In Italian, the phrase a cappella means, literally, in the manner of chapel. Whoever coined this phrase presumably attended the type of church service in which people sing without musical accompaniment. In any case, without musical accompaniment is the definition of this loan phrase in English. [Read more...]
De facto
In Latin, de facto means according to fact, and this is roughly the meaning it carries in English. It’s defined as in reality or fact, but its de facto definition is closer to serving a function or filling a role without being officially assigned to that function or role. [Read more...]
In vogue, en vogue
In English, it’s perfectly acceptable to refer to something fashionable as in vogue (meaning in the current fashion or style). There’s no need to use the French en vogue. Vogue did indeed come from French, but that was several hundred years ago, and the word is now well established in English. So unless we’re talking about the R&B group, en vogue is an affectation. [Read more...]
Toilette
A seldom-used definition of toilet is the act or process of dressing or grooming oneself. It shares this definition with the French loanword toilette, which always refers to the grooming process and never to the bathroom fixture. [Read more...]
Faux
In English, the loanword faux has the same meaning it has in French—i.e., artificial, or just fake. The word has been in English for several centuries, but it was formerly used only to describe imitation products such as faux pearls or faux leather. Over the last few years, however, faux has burst from this confinement and is now used as a synonym of fake in all sorts of contexts. [Read more...]
Muumuu
The noun meaning a woman’s loose unbelted dress is spelled muumuu, not moomoo, moo-moo, mumu, or mu-mu. The unusual spelling is derived from the Hawaiian mu’umu’u, which is properly pronounced moo-oomoo-oo. When the word entered English in the early 20th century, the apostrophes were dropped and the pronunciation simplified to moo-moo. [Read more...]
Bar mitzvah and bat mitzvah
A bar mitzvah is (1) a 13-year-old Jewish boy who has assumed full religious obligations, and (2) the coming-of-age ceremony that recognizes a 13-year-old Jewish boy as a bar mitzvah. Bat mitzvah is the corresponding term for females. In Hebrew, mitzvah means commandment, bar means son, and bat means daughter. The terms do not need to be capitalized or italicized. [Read more...]