500 Foreign Words and Phrases You Should Know to Sound Smart (6 page)

My companion and I experienced COITUS INTERRUPTUS last night when we got a little too enthusiastic and the bed collapsed under us
.

comédie humaine
(French) (KOH-may-dee oo-MAIN) (noun)

Loosely, the human condition, implying that our lives all contain an element of absurdity.
La Comédie Humaine
was the title of a collection of tales and novels by Honoré de Balzac (1799–1850) concerning French life in the period immediately after the end of Napoleonic rule.

As I grow older, I prefer to sit back and watch the COMÉDIE HUMAINE and laugh at the folly of others
.

comme ci, comme ça
(French) (kom SEE kom SAH) (phrase)

Literally, “Like this, like that.” More generally, so-so or okay.

My day isn’t too bad so far. COMME CI, COMME ÇA. We’ll see what it’s like after my interview with the boss this afternoon
.

comme il faut
(French) (kom eel FOE) (adv.)

According to the proper standards; accepted.

Those shoes you were wearing this morning were awful! Completely inappropriate. The ones you have on now are COMME IL FAUT for the sort of party we’re going to
.

Nota Bene

The French are fiercely jealous of the purity of their language. French traditionalists have long lamented the importation of such abominations as
le coca-cola
and
les cocktails
. To guard against this sort of invasion, the Académie Française was established by Cardinal Richelieu in 1635 and for the past three and three-quarter centuries has been fighting the good fight to keep French the way it was in the seventeenth century.

communibus locis
(Latin) (kom-MOO-ni-boos LO-kiss) (noun)

In common places; that is to say, some relationship between several places.

One finds intra-party strife in parliaments IN COMMUNIBUS LOCIS—whether in Paris, London, or Berlin
.

¿Como estas?
(Spanish) (ko-mo ess-TASS) (interjection)

How’s it going? How are you? Among the most common greetings in Spanish.

Hey, buddy! ¿COMO ESTAS? Long time no see!

compos mentis
(Latin) (KOM-poss MEN-tiss) (adj.)

Of sound mind. Sane. The opposite is, naturally, non compos mentis. Though the term is a legal one, it’s fallen into general usage.

Despite my client’s claim to be a parakeet during the mating season, I ask the court to regard him as COMPOS MENTIS. After all, you’ll all notice the brightly colored sweater he’s wearing in an effort to attract a mate
.

contemptus mundi
(Latin) (kon-TEM-tuss MUN-dee) (phrase)

Scorn for the world. Rejection of the material world and its benefits. This idea runs through much of ancient philosophy, particularly the Stoics, who believed that only virtue brings happiness. This idea can also be found in the Latin phrase
vanitas vanitatem
, usually translated, “Vanity, vanity, all is vanity.”

Since losing my lottery winnings in Las Vegas, I have developed a CONTEMPTUS MUNDI and now seek to gratify myself through spiritual growth and exploration
.

contra mundum
(Latin) (KON-tra MUN-dum) (adv.)

Against the world. Contrary to popular belief and opinion.

Galileo, CONTRA MUNDUM, held that the earth moves around the sun. Although he was forced by the church to recant his position, he never entirely abandoned it
.

corpus delicti
(Latin) (KOR-puss day-LIK-tee) (noun)

Literally, “Body of crime.” This is the principle that before someone can be convicted of committing a crime, it must be proven that a crime was, in fact, committed. The problem arises particularly in murder cases in which no body of the victim is found. In such a case, the police and prosecution must prove to the court that there is an overwhelming likelihood of the missing person having been murdered.

The difficulty in the case of many missing people is to establish CORPUS DELICTI so that someone can be charged with murder
.

corrigendum
(Latin) (kor-i-GEN-doom) (noun)

A printer’s error that is corrected or should be corrected. The plural is
corrigenda
(such errors are also sometimes referred to as
errata
).

I’ve sent my publisher a list of CORRIGENDA that must be fixed before the next edition of my book appears
.

cosa nostra
(Italian) (KOHSS-a NOSS-tra) (noun)

Literally, “our thing.” The term was originally used to refer to Mafia originating in Sicily but has come to generally mean any form of Mafia, including those that come from other parts of Italy. The phrase was used by members of the Sicilian Mafia to designate a secret thing.

Johnny “Short Fingers” Capaccio and Frank “Greasy Thumb” Guzzo are leading members of la COSA NOSTRA
.

Nota Bene

That the
cosa nostra
exists has been proven repeatedly in court cases and through the testimony of former gangsters. That they ever existed in the romantic form depicted by Mario Puzo in
The Godfather
is another matter entirely. The sordid side of the Mafia lies in their involvement in drugs, prostitution, protection rackets, and so on. The idea that a Mafia don would refuse to involve himself in the drug trade out of moral considerations, as Don Corleone does, beggars the imagination.

coup de grâce
(French) (koo de GRAHSS) (noun)

A death blow intended to end suffering.

When an execution by firing squad occurs, the person in charge of the firing squad steps forward after the execution and fires a bullet into the head of the victim; this is intended as a kind of symbolic COUP DE GRÂCE
.

coup de main
(French) (koo de MAHN) (noun)

Literally, “blow of the hand.” More generally, a swift, unexpected attack.

Hitler’s desperate attempt to win World War II with the Ardennes offensive in the winter of 1944 was a COUP DE MAIN that despite its initial success was doomed to failure because of the Allies’ superior resources
.

coup de théâtre
(French) (koo de tay-A-tre) (noun)

In drama, a sudden, surprising turn of events. Although applied to acting, it can also be practiced in real life.

Convinced that my husband was cheating on me, I decided, in a COUP DE THÉÂTRE, to surprise him at his mistress’s house. I didn’t realize that the “mistress” was male
.

Credo quia absurdum est
(Latin) (KRAY-do KWEE-ah ab-SIR-dahm est) (phrase)

I believe because it’s absurd. It derives originally from the theologian Tertullian (160–220). Essentially, the phrase captures the idea that religion should be approached as a matter of faith rather than logic.

“Tertullian is credited with the motto CREDO QUIA ABSURDUM—
I believe because it is impossible. Needless to say, he began life as a lawyer.”

—H. L. Mencken

crème de la crème
(French) (KREM de la KREM) (phrase)

Top of the line; best of the best. Based on the fact that cream rises to the top of milk, and so, presumably, the best cream rises to the top of the cream.

Students at Harvard and Yale universities represent the CRÈME DE LA CRÈME of American education—or at least they certainly think they do
.

cri du coeur
(French) (KREE doo KOOR) (noun)

Literally, “cry from the heart.” More generally, any deeply felt exclamation or utterance.

Marcia, in a CRI DU COEUR, exclaimed that she couldn’t possibly move from New York City to Omaha because of the lack of good hairdressers
.

cui bono
(Latin) (koo-ee BO-no) (phrase)

Literally, “to whom is the good.” Colloquially, who profits. This is one of the basic questions investigators ask when a crime has been committed.

When we approach the issue of who murdered President John F. Kennedy, we must ask CUI BONO. The answer is clearly the CIA, the Mafia, Cuba, Lyndon Johnson, and the New World Order
.

cul-de-sac
(French) (KUL de sack) (noun)

Literally, “bottom of the bag.” More generally, a dead end. This is particularly used concerning geography, but it can also have broader uses, for instance concerning a line of argument.

The logical contradictions in your position have forced you into a CUL-DE-SAC. Now you’ve got no choice but to agree with me that the entire universe is the inside of a giant hamster
.

cum grano salis
(Latin) (koom GRAN-o SAL-iss) (phrase)

With a grain of salt. An expression of skepticism about a statement or belief. The phrase originates with Pliny the Elder (23–79), a natural historian, who recounts an antidote for poison that contained salt. Thus any threat concerning poison should be taken with a grain of salt.

I take stories about the invasion of Roswell, New Mexico, by alien beings CUM GRANO SALIS. Of course, that could explain a lot about New Mexicans
.

Nota Bene

Pliny the Elder’s
Naturalis Historia
formed the basis for much of early medieval Europe’s approach to natural science. Pliny was such a committed scientist that when Mount Vesuvius exploded near the ancient town of Pompeii in 79, he insisted on going to observe it. Sadly, he perished in the attempt; his son Pliny the Younger left an eloquent testimony to the courage and intelligence of his father.

cum laude
(Latin) (koom LOUD-ay) (adv.)

With praise. An academic degree that is taken cum laude indicates a high level of performance on the part of the degree holder.

I don’t feel formal education is especially important. It’s true I have a CUM LAUDE undergraduate degree from Harvard, and a master’s and doctorate from Yale, but I hardly ever mention them
.

curriculum vitae
(Latin) (kur-IH-cue-lum VEE-tie) (noun)

A summary of one’s academic and professional career and achievements. In academic circles, the equivalent of a resume.

We have an open position for professor of philosophy, and Dr. Smith of Princeton has been good enough to send me his CURRICULUM VITAE, along with the letter of application for the post
.

“I just know so many people who
have six or seven foreign languages
and have read everything and have
musical training and they are
still dorks.”

—Joseph Epstein

D

da capo
(Italian) (dah KAHP-oh) (adv.)

Often abbreviated D.C., this is a musical term meaning “from the beginning.” When a composer inserts the phrase in a score, it directs the player to return to a designated point in the piece and repeat it.

The score for the overture indicates that the last ten bars are to be played DA CAPO
.

déclassé
(French) (DAY-klass-AY) (adj.)

Lower class; inferior; common. Although the French, in theory, abolished social classes during the French Revolution of 1789, that hasn’t stopped them from contributing a number of words that designate social rank and its privileges and penalties.

Please don’t wear that plaid shirt to the theater. It’s so DÉCLASSÉ—I wouldn’t want to be seen anywhere near you
.

décolletage
(French) (DAY-kole-eh-TAZH) (noun)

The neck and shoulders of a woman that are exposed by a dress, one that particularly emphasizes her cleavage. Again, this is something the French are particularly skilled at: inventing words to describe something sexy. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, French fashions generally indicated that a dress wasn’t a dress unless the woman’s breasts were half exposed.

That outfit that Jennifer Lopez wore to the Oscars this year particularly emphasized her DÉCOLLETAGE… not that that’s a bad thing
.

de facto
(Latin) (dee FAK-toh) (adv.)

In fact; in actuality. Generally, something that occurs in practice even when it is not legally or specifically mandated.

Even though Chicago’s schools were supposedly integrated in the 1960s, they remain DE FACTO segregated to a large extent
.

De gustibus non est disputandum
(Latin) (day GUS-ti-bus non est dis-poo-TAHN-dum) (phrase)

There should be no arguments concerning questions of taste. That is to say, issues of taste are matters of opinion, and so we can’t say someone’s taste is right or wrong. Although paintings on black velvet of puppies and Elvis push this idea to its limits.

déjà vu
(French) (DAY-zha VOO) (noun)

An experience of feeling one has already seen or heard something before. Émile Boirac (1851–1917), a psychic researcher, first used this term, and it has since become part of the vernacular.

The baseball player Yogi Berra famously remarked of back-to-back home runs by Mickey Mantel and Roger Maris, “It’s DÉJÀ VU all over again.”

Nota Bene

Among the most famous comments of Berra were: