500 Foreign Words and Phrases You Should Know to Sound Smart (10 page)

I’ve spent many hours in Florida attempting to imbibe its GENIUS LOCI, but still I can’t imagine why anyone wants to live there
.

Gesamstkunstwerk
(German) (geh-ZAHMT-kunst-VERK) (noun)

A total work of art. The term was popularized by the German composer Richard Wagner (1813–1883) to summarize his notion that in opera, the music, scenery, acting, and singing should all be integrated into a harmonious whole.

Nota Bene

Wagner’s greatest work, by consensus, is the Ring Cycle: a series of four operas (
Das Rheingold
,
Die Walküre
,
Siegfried
, and
Götterdämmerung
) that are based on Norse sagas. Taken as a whole, as Wagner intended, they take several days to perform.

Gesellschaft
(German) (ge-ZELL-shaft) (noun)

In contrast to
Gemeinschaft
(see previous), Gesellschaft was seen by the nineteenth-century German sociologists who came up with this idea as equivalent to society, one in which individuals pursue their own interests without necessarily focusing on the good of the whole.

The Tea Party movement conceives of the United States as a GESELLSCHAFT, in which everyone does her or his own thing without interference by or concern for others
.

Gestalt
(German) (geh-SHTAHLT) (noun/adv.)

Literally “form” or “shape.” It is the basis of Gestalt psychology, which argues that the brain is a holistic entity with self-organizing tendencies. In general, this school believes that the brain has an innate organizational form, rather than one imposed on it from outside stimuli.

gesundheit
(German) (geh-ZUND-hite) (interjection)

What you say to someone who’s sneezed. The word’s origins are confusing;
gesund
means “healthy.” It’s speculated by some linguists that the term originated in the Middle Ages as a blessing against the bubonic plague—although you probably shouldn’t mention that the next time someone has to blow their nose in your presence.

glasnost
(Russian) (GLAHZ-nost) (noun)

Literally, “openness.” Generally, this refers to the policies implemented by Mikhail Gorbachev (1931–) as leader of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. These policies eventually led to the disintegration of Communism in the USSR and eventually to the end of the Soviet state. Gorbachev’s original intention in using the word seems to have been to reduce corruption in the party and the bureaucracy, but the movement quickly spread beyond its original boundaries.

In the wake of recent corporate scandals, I think our company has to rebuild customer trust by pursuing a policy of GLASNOST—starting with releasing the names of our executives and their salaries
.

Gloria in excelsis Deo
(Latin) (GLO-ree-ah in eks-CHEL-seess DAY-oh) (phrase)

Glory to God in the highest. This is the beginning of a well-known hymn, echoing the words of the angels to shepherds as they announced the birth of Jesus. The Latin translation was made by Hilary of Poitiers (c. 300–368).

gonif
(Yiddish) (GAH-niff) (noun)

A thief; a dishonest person.

That Bernie Madoff was a GONIF who should be kept in jail forever for all the money he stole from people
.

Götterdämmerung
(German) (gah-ter-DAM-er-ung) (noun)

Twilight of the gods. Also the name of a well-known opera by Wagner (see
Gesamtkunstwerke
). The original Norse legend on which Wagner drew for his story predicted that a war among the gods would lead to the end of the world. Thus the word today is sometimes used to mean a period of catastrophic decline or apocalypse.

During 2008, it seemed as if we were seeing GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG enacted on Wall Street, as financial houses collapsed
.

Nota Bene

Adolf Hitler (1889–1945) was a great devotee of Wagner, as were many in his inner circle of advisers. As Berlin trembled before the advance of Soviet armies in April 1945, it was therefore ironic that the final piece played by the Berlin Philharmonic was the final scene from
Götterdämmerung
.

Gott ist tot!
(German) (GOT ist TOTE) (phrase)

God is dead. Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900), the German philosopher, put forward this proposition in
The Gay Science
, first published in 1882, and in
Thus Spoke Zarathustra
between 1883 and 1885. He meant that in particular the Christian concept of God no longer had any relevance to modern society. However, his meaning became vulgarized by later commentators, who assumed Nietzsche was proclaiming himself an atheist.

Gott würfelt nicht
(German) (GOT ver-FELT NIKT) (phrase)

God does not play dice. This comment, made by physicist Albert Einstein (1879–1955), expressed the feeling of many physicists of the mid–twentieth century that something must be radically wrong with the theory of quantum mechanics, since it implied that there were certain elements of nature that were inherently uncertain or unknowable. Einstein preferred to pursue his unified field theory, in an effort to find a universal theory of physics.

goy
(Yiddish) (goy) (noun)

Non-Jew. It is derived from the Hebrew term for “nation.”

I hear Miriam brought home a GOY as her boyfriend rather than a nice Jewish boy
.

grande dame
(French) (grahnd dame) (noun)

A great lady. A woman who is highly respected. Although the term has tended to be applied to society women, more recently it’s been used to describe eminent women from all walks of life, especially those with high public profiles.

Hillary Clinton is now seen as the GRANDE DAME of American politics
.

Grand Guignol
(French) (GRAHN geen-YOLE) (noun)

Originally a theater in Montmartre, an area of Paris. During its existence from 1897 to 1962, it offered shows of often grotesque spectacles, including abundant use of stage blood and other devices meant to horrify as well as entertain the audience. Thus the term has come to mean any outsized and weird spectacle.

Splatter horror films, with their explicit violence, have become the GRANDE GUIGNOL of modern American cinema
.

graviora manent
(Latin) (grah-we-OR-ah MAN-ent) (phrase)

Greater troubles remain. The worse is yet to come.

You may think we’ve gotten through winter because it’s the end of February, but trust me, GRAVIORA MANENT
.

gringo
(Spanish) (GREEN-go) (noun)

Slang for non-Hispanic person; Caucasian. The word dates back to the eighteenth century but only came into common use in the twentieth century with the spread of Spanish in the United States.

Isn’t it a little weird that most of the people who like Tex-Mex food are GRINGOS?

gulag
(Russian) (GOO-lahg) (noun)

An acronym for Chief Administration of Corrective Labor Camps and Colonies, this word quickly came to mean both the general system of labor camps set up in the Soviet Union and, more generally, any widely repressive prison system. Although the gulag was formally dissolved in 1960, the system of camps persisted until the end of the Soviet Union.

Nota Bene

The Soviet gulag inspired a considerable amount of literature, most notably Alexandr Solzhenitsyn’s (1918–2008)
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
and
The Gulag Archipelago
. As well, Nadezha Mandelstam (1899–1980), in her books
Hope Against Hope
and
Hope Abandoned
, recounts her life and that of her husband, Osip, in the gulag.

“I have never known what is Arabic or English, or which one was really mine beyond any doubt. What I do know, however, is that the two have always been together in my life, one resonating in the other, sometimes ironically, sometimes nostalgically, most often each correcting, and commenting on, the other. Each can seem like my absolutely first language, but neither is.”

—Edward Said

H

habeas corpus
(Latin) (HAY-be-us COR-puss) (noun)

Literally, “You may have the body.” The legal action by which someone is released from custody if a judge decides there is not enough evidence to hold her or him.

Although it was severely damaged by the Patriot Act in the wake of the September 11, 2001, attacks, the principle of HABEAS CORPUS is generally upheld in the United States
.

haiku
(Japanese) (hi-KOO) (noun)

A Japanese poetic form, consisting of seventeen on (sounds) in three phrases of five, seven, and five.

For example, one of the oldest Japanese haikus:

old pond…

a frog leaps in

water’s sound

hakuna matata
(Swahili) (hah-KOO-nah mah-TAH-tah) (phrase)

There are no worries.

Relax. Who cares if that big project is due tomorrow. Sit down. Don’t sweat it. HAKUNA MATATA
.

Nota Bene

“Hakuna Matata” was, of course, the title of a hit song from Walt Disney’s
The Lion King
. Composed by Alan Menken, with lyrics by Tim Rice, it is the advice Pumbaa and Timon give to the young lion-king-in-exile, Simba. Fortunately at a key turning point in the story, the lioness Nala and the wise old monkey Rafiki come back into the picture to kick some sense into Simba and get him back on the road to recovering his throne.

hara kiri
(Japanese) (HAH-rah KEE-ree) (noun)

Also known as seppuku, this is a form of ritual suicide. The victim literally disembowels himself with a knife specially reserved for the purpose.

Although HARA KIRI was abolished as judicial punishment in 1873, in 1970 several traditionalist Japanese writers committed suicide in this manner
.

hasta la vista
(Spanish) (HAHS-tah lah VEES-tah) (phrase)

See you later. It came into widespread use in America following the 1991 film
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
. Who can forget Arnold Schwarzenegger’s android growling it out, under the tutelage of John Connor?

haute couture
(French) (ote koo-TOOR) (noun)

Literally, “high sewing.” More generally, the making of high-quality (and therefore, extremely expensive) clothing to order. This is the gold standard of fashion and, like most things having to do with expensive clothing, it’s centered in Paris.

Dior and Versace are some examples of the sorts of snooty fashion houses that embody HAUTE COUTURE
.

haute cuisine
(French) (ote kwee-ZEEN) (noun)

High-end cooking; food that is prepared using extremely time-consuming, precise, delicate, and expensive methods—usually for people who are more interested in how much they spend on a meal than on what it tastes like.

HAUTE CUISINE is served in the dining room of the hotel where I stayed in New York; that marks me out as someone sophisticated and important
.

hic abundant leones
(Latin) (hic ah-BUN-dant lee-OGH-nayz) (phrase)

Here there abound lions. This phrase was inserted by mapmakers on those territories that had yet to be explored. It conveyed the idea of dangers lurking at the edges of the known world. Maps also, on occasion, warned of cannibals, elephants, and hippos.

hic sunt dracones
(Latin) (hic soont drah-KO-nayz) (phrase)

The same as previous, except with dragons. Because
dracones
are scarier than
leones
.

Hinterland
(German) (HIN-ter-lahnd) (noun)

The inland area behind the shoreline of a river or a coastline. More generally, it refers to a rural area.

When I was little, my family moved from the center of Chicago to the HINTERLAND of Oak Park in the suburbs
.

Hoc signum vincere
(Latin) (hok SIG-num WINK-air-ay) (phrase)

Under this sign, conquer. During a period of civil war in the late Roman Empire, the Emperor Constantine (272–337) faced off against his opponent, Maxentius, at the Milvian Bridge near Rome. The night before the battle, a heavenly spirit advised Constantine to mark his soldiers’ shields with a cross, telling him that if he did so, he would conquer Maxentius. Constantine obeyed the command, was victorious, and for that reason made Christianity the official religion of the Roman empire.

hodie mihi, cras tibi
(Latin) (HO-dee-ay ME-he kras TI-be) (phrase)

Literally, “Today to me, tomorrow to you,” this phrase refers to the turn of fortune. This is probably cold comfort to someone who has just lost a pile of money at the blackjack table in Vegas.

I know I’ve won every hand for the past two hours, but before you accuse me of cheating, remember that luck can change. HODIE MIHI, CRAS TIBI
.

hoi polloi
(Greek) (HOH-ee pole-OH-ee) (noun)

The many; the majority. Colloquially, the large numbers of lesser-educated citizens; the Great Unwashed.

I don’t feel that my opinions need confirming by the HOI POLLOI; it’s sufficient that I have the support of the educated classes
.

hola
(Spanish) (HO-lah) (interjection)

Hello! Hi, there!

HOLA
, amigo.
What’s shakin’?