500 Foreign Words and Phrases You Should Know to Sound Smart (14 page)

An assembly of all the various prepared bits and pieces of a recipe. The cook places them within easy reach so they can be added to the cooking process as needed.

I’m making chicken crepes this evening, so your job is to prepare a MISE EN PLACE for me and then get out of my way. Then eat the food and tell me how wonderful it is
.

mise en scène
(French) (MEEZ ohn seen) (phrase)

Literally, “placing on stage.” This has become a technical term, especially in film, for the visual elements of the movie that are used to tell the story.

In the classic movie
Battleship Potemkin,
director Sergei Eisenstein used montages and fast cutaways as his MISE EN SCÈNE
.

modus operandi
(Latin) (MOH-dus op-er-AN-dee) (noun)

Method of operation. Characteristic mode of proceeding with something.

Richard Nixon’s MODUS OPERANDI in almost any situation was to first lie, then cover up the lie, and then to cover up the cover-up
.

modus vivendi
(Latin) (MOH-dus we-WEN-dee) (noun)

Method of living; lifestyle.

I’ve found that the MODUS VIVENDI that works best for me is overindulgence in eating, drinking, and sexual activity. So I’m just going with the flow
.

montage
(French) (mon-TAZH) (noun)

A collection of images, placed together. In film, these images are shown quickly, one after the other. Musical elements and special effects may also contribute to the sense of energy and change that such filming brings.

Modern filmmakers often use a technique of MONTAGE to suggest the passage of time
.

Nota Bene

In 1982, in the film
Koyaanisqatsi: Life Out of Balance
, director Godfrey Reggio made a comment on the frentic and dysfunctional character of modern urban existence. Using combinations of montage, time-lapse photography, and dramatic slow motion, he depicted life in urban centers as out of touch with the natural rhythms that humans have followed for centuries. The title of the film is from a word in the Hopi language meaning “unbalanced life.”

Morituri te salutant
(Latin) (mor-i-TOO-ree tay sal-oo-TANT) (phrase) (several versions)

Those who are about to die salute you. According to the Roman historian Suetonius (c. 69–c. 130) it was with this phrase that Roman gladiators greeted the emperor as they entered the arena. There are variations to the phrase in other accounts, and although it may have been used once or twice, it’s by no means clear that it was a standard greeting.

mortuum flagellas
(Latin) (mor-TOO-oom flah-GEL-lass) (phrase)

You’re beating the dead. Equivalent to the more colloquial “beating a dead horse.”

I don’t see why you keep harping on the fact that I slept with your best friend right after the wedding. It seems a case of MORTUUM FLAGELLAS to me
.

mos maiorum
(Latin) (mos my-OH-rum) (phrase)

The customs of our ancestors. Generally, since the Romans revered age and equated it with wisdom, this term was intended to show that something had the force of ancient custom behind it and should not be disturbed.

The prohibition against selling alcohol on Sunday morning has the power of MOS MAIORUM, and I see no reason to disturb it by new legislation
.

mot juste
(French) (moh zhust) (noun)

The right, or proper, word. For the French, who obsess over matters of language to a considerably greater degree than other nations, finding the right word for every occasion is of the utmost importance. And, if they can’t find the right one, they make one up—as long as it doesn’t bear any resemblance to an American expression.

In my writing, I always strive to find the MOT JUSTE to refine my communications with the masses
.

mutatis mutandis
(Latin) (moo-TAH-tees moo-TAHN-dees) (phrase)

The necessary changes having been made.

I’d like you to re-examine these figures, MUTATIS MUTANDIS, and see whether they bear out my contention that there is scientific proof that pheromone production increases exponentially for each shot of tequila after the first three
.

“One who speaks only one language is one person, but one who speaks two languages is two people.”

—Turkish proverb

N

Natura non facit saltus
(Latin) (nah-TOO-rah non FAH-kit SAHL-tus) (phrase)

Nature does not make leaps. This principle was upheld by scientists from the time of Aristotle, expressing the idea that many changes occur gradually. Although it was also a principle of the theory of evolution posed by Charles Darwin (1809–1882), it has been challenged in recent years by such evolutionary biologists as Stephen Jay Gould (1941–2002) in his theory of punctuated equilibrium.

née
(French) (nay) (adv.)

Born. Referring, usually, to a woman’s maiden name.

The wife of John F. Kennedy was Jacqueline Kennedy NÉE Jacqueline Bouvier
.

nemesis
(Greek) (NEH-mis-sis) (noun)

A negative fate, the outcome of overweening pride (see
hubris
). Anyone, the ancient Greeks believed, who tried to rise above what the gods had decreed for them would be brought down by the gods. This was a governing principle of Greek drama, exemplified by such plays as
Antigone
and
Oedipus the King
by Sophocles (c. 497
B.C.
–406
B.C.
). Nemesis is the agent of such divine retribution.

Because you boasted of your vast sexual prowess, it’s only right that your NEMESIS should take the form of an STD
.

Nemo igitur vir magnus sine aliquo adflatu divino umquam fuit
(Latin) (NAY-mo ig-i-TOOR weer MAG-nus sin-AY AH-lee-kwo ad-FLAT-oo di-WE-no OOM-kwahm FOO-it) (phrase)

There was never a great man, save through divine inspiration. A quotation from Marcus Tullius Cicero (106
B.C.
–43
B.C.
), from his book
De Natura Deorum
(
On the Nature of the Gods
).

Nota Bene

A master of Latin prose, Cicero was also a self-regarding, persnickety, argumentative member of the Roman upper classes. He was a member of the Senate and sharply opposed the rise of Julius Caesar (100
B.C.
–44
B.C.
). Following the reaction after Caesar’s murder and the triumph of Marc Anthony (83
B.C.
–30
B.C.
), Cicero was murdered by Anthony’s supporters.

Nemo me impune laecesit
(Latin) (NAY-moh MAY im-POON lie-KES-it) (phrase)

No one touches me with impunity. This is the motto of several Scottish regiments of the British Army, confirming that no one in their right mind should make fun of a Scot wearing a kilt.

ne plus ultra
(Latin) (neh ploos UL-trah) (phrase)

Nothing further than; nothing beyond. The Romans used this phrase to refer to the perceived geographical limitations of their world. Beyond the Mediterranean and into the Atlantic Ocean, for example, their knowledge did not extend.

Your knowledge of geography is the NE PLUS ULTRA. Regarding pretty much everything else, you don’t know what you’re talking about
.

n’est-ce pas
(French) (ness PAH) (phrase)

Isn’t that the case? A French question that expects the answer to be affirmative.

Going out with me is probably the most delightful experience you’ve had in many months, N’EST-CE PAS?

nicht wahr
(German) (nikt vahr) (phrase)

Isn’t that the case? Again, this expects an affirmative reply.

All citizens should obey the traffic laws, even if you’re stopped at a red light at midnight and there’s no one else around, NICHT WAHR?

Nihil boni sine labore
(Latin) (NEE-hil BOH-nee SI-neh lah-BOR-ay) (phrase)

Nothing worthwhile is achieved without work. The motto of several schools, although you’d think it’s a sentiment that would be more widespread than it is. God knows, it’s the kind of thing parents are always saying to their children, usually without any effect whatever.

nil admirari
(Latin) (nil ad-mir-RAH-ree) (phrase)

Nothing astonishes me. Nothing bothers me. The phrase has been variously attributed to Cicero (106
B.C.
–43
B.C.
) and to Horace (65
B.C.
–8
B.C.
). It expresses a widely admired Roman virtue: To let nothing disturb one’s fortitude.

Despite the collapse of my banking empire, NIL ADMIRARI. I face the future with an equitable spirit—including my court date next week
.

nil desperandum
(Latin) (nil des-per-AND-doom) (interjection)

Don’t despair.

It’s true that our customers hate our products, our accountant was just convicted of embezzlement, and our warehouse just burned to the ground. But NIL DESPERANDUM! I’m sure something will turn up
.

noblesse oblige
(French) (NO-bless oh-BLEEZH) (adv.)

Literally, “Nobility obliges.” More generally, the idea that privilege includes responsibilities, although this concept has not, perhaps, been much in evidence in recent years.

Because of my vast wealth, I like to spend every Christmas day in a soup kitchen, dispensing warm meals to those less fortunate. NOBLESSE OBLIGE, you know
.

Noli me tangere
(Latin) (NOH-lee may TAHN-geh-reh) (phrase)

Touch me not. According to the Gospel of John, this is what Jesus said to Mary Magdalene when she recognized him after his resurrection. The moment has been the subject of numerous works of art, and it’s suggested that a more accurate translation of the biblical Greek might be, “Stop clinging to me.”

nolle prosequi
(Latin) (NO-lay pro-SEK-we) (interjection)

Literally, “Don’t follow.” More generally, in a criminal case it means “Don’t prosecute.” In general conversation, it means, as P. G. Wodehouse (1881–1975) once said, “Nuts to you.”

When John and Janet asked me to help them move to a new house, I thought about the last time I agreed to help them move, and the fact that they hadn’t packed anything by the day of the move. With that in mind, I extended a firm NOLLE PROSEQUI
.

nolo contendere
(Latin) (NO-loh kon-TEN-der-ay) (phrase)

I don’t want to contend; I don’t want to contest. This is a form of legal pleading, referred to as a plea of no contest. It means the defendant accepts the sentence of the court without actually pleading guilty or not guilty.

Nota Bene

The concept of
nolo contendere
became widely known in the United States—more widely, at any rate, than it had previously been—in 1973 when Vice President Spiro Agnew (1918–1996) pleaded no contest in a bribery trial. The plea was accepted by the court with the condition that he resign as vice president. He was replaced by Gerald Ford (1913–2006), who became president when Richard Nixon (1913–1994) resigned the presidency in August 1974.

nom de guerre
(French) (nahm de GAIR) (noun)

Literally, “war name.” Generally a name that is assumed in times of stress or conflict. Traditionally, such names were adopted by soldiers in the French army in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, often based on the soldier’s place of origin.

In the twentieth century, the Russian revolutionary Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov adopted the NOMME DE GUERRE “Lenin.”

nom de plume
(French) (nahm de PLOOM) (noun)

Pen name. The name under which authors sometimes choose to write.

The English mathematician Charles Dodgson wrote under
the NOM DE PLUME Lewis Carroll, producing the masterpieces
Alice in Wonderland
and
Alice Through the Looking-Glass.

Nota Bene

There have been many famous noms de plume throughout history. For example, the Englishman Eric Blair (1903–1950) is much better known as George Orwell. Mary Anne Evans (1819–1880) wrote her masterpieces under the name George Eliot, and the French writer François-Marie Arouet (1694–1778) has come down to us under his
nom de plume
of Voltaire. In fact, aspiring young writers might well be advised that the first thing they should do when launching their careers is cast about for a suitable pseudonym.

non compos mentis
(Latin) (non KOM-pos MEN-tees) (phrase)

Not of sound mind; crazy; wacko; the choo-choo train having chugged right off the tracks.

I’d pay more attention to Benedict’s business advice, but from what I can tell from his behavior lately, he’s NON COMPOS MENTIS. At any rate, I don’t think it’s normal for a man to wear Speedos and a tee shirt to the office
.

non scholae, sed vitae discimus
(Latin) (non SKOHL-eye sed WE-tie DIS-ki-mus) (phrase)

We do not learn for school but for life. A phrase that generally means one should study for real life and not just to pass tests. More or less the opposite philosophy of the No Child Left Behind Act.

non sequitur
(Latin) (non SEK-wit-oor) (noun)

Literally, “that which does not follow.” Something that has no obvious connection to what was said or written previously.