500 Foreign Words and Phrases You Should Know to Sound Smart (7 page)

“You’ve got to be very careful if you don’t know where you’re going, because you might not get there.”

“Baseball is 90 percent mental—the other half is physical.”

“A nickel isn’t worth a dime today.”

“When you come to a fork in the road, take it.”

de jure
(Latin) (day ZHU-ray) (adv.)

According to law. The opposite of
de facto
.

Unlike in the North, discrimination against African Americans in the South during the 1950s and 1960s was DE JURE
.

dei gratia
(Latin) (DAY-ee GRAH-tee-ah) (adv.)

By the grace of God. Applied particularly to the reign of British monarchs. D.G. Regina appears on British coins, indicating “Queen, by the grace of God.” Within the Catholic Church, the phrase is also applied to upper levels of the ecclesiastical hierarchy.

Monsignor Smith has been designated Bishop DEI GRATIA
.

demi-monde
(French) (DEH-me -MOND) (noun)

A group of people living a self-indulgent lifestyle. The term has been particularly applied to sections of the European upper classes from the late eighteenth to the twentieth centuries. In America, this group is more commonly referred to as “jet setters,” but in any case the behavior is the same: drinking, gambling, and hanging out at fashionable clubs.

Paris Hilton, Kim Kardashian, and Lindsay Lohan are part of the modern American DEMI-MONDE. Evidently standards for this sort of thing have fallen off during the past fifty years
.

De mortuis nil nisi bonum
(Latin) (day MOR-too-eess nil niss-ee BON-um) (phrase)

Speak nothing but good of the dead. Refers to the custom that we shouldn’t say anything bad about someone who has passed on, a custom honored more in the breach than in the observance.

Well, DE MORTUIS NIL NISI BONUM, but I have to say that the late, unlamented Robert Jenkins was a complete son of a bitch
.

de novo
(Latin) (day NO-vo) (adv.)

From the beginning; fresh.

We intend to approach our relationship DE NOVO, in the hopes of putting all of our backbiting and sniping behind us—to say nothing of my thirteen-year affair with another woman
.

De omnibus dubitandum
(Latin) (day AHM-ni-bus DO-bee-than-doom) (phrase)

Be suspicious of everything. The phrase is sometimes attributed to René Descartes (1596–1650), whose philosophy was based on extreme skepticism toward everything (see
Cogito ergo sum
).

Given the way that news is often packaged by big corporations these days, DE OMNIBUS DUBITANDUM is probably a good approach when reading the newspaper or watching television
.

deo volente
(Latin) (DAY-oh WO-len-tay) (phrase)

God willing. If God allows.

This spring, DEO VOLENTE, I’ll have a new job and we’ll have moved out of our old house. But you never can tell what might happen
.

de profundis
(Latin) (day pro-FOON-deess) (phrase)

From the depths. It is the opening of Psalm 130. It is also the title of a book by Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) written during his time in prison after his conviction for sodomy.

After the long, painful struggle of Finals Week, I have arisen DE PROFUNDIS and come forth to the light of day. And to the bar
.

Nota Bene

Wilde’s book
De Profundis
took the form of a long letter to his former lover, Lord Alfred Douglas. Douglas’s father, the Marquess of Queensberry, had left an insulting note for Wilde at his club, publicly accusing the poet of sodomy. Wilde, against the advice of his friends and at the urging of Douglas, sued the Marquess. As a result of the revelations produced at the trial, Wilde was charged with sodomy, convicted, and sentenced to two years in prison. He died shortly after his release.

de rien
(French) (deh REE-en) (phrase)

It’s nothing. Nothing important.

What’s that I said? DE RIEN. Nothing of any importance
.

de rigueur
(French) (deh ree-GERR) (adv.)

Required; mandated. Often used concerning fashion, but it can be applied to just about anything.

This year, the fashionistas have declared that black leather boots are DE RIGEUR for casual wear
.

dernier cri
(French) (DARE-nee-air KREE) (adj.)

Literally, “the last cry.” Colloquially, the latest fashion.

I remember when Jungian literary criticism was the DERNIER CRI in English departments around the country
.

derrière
(French) (DEH-ree-AIR) (noun)

Bottom; butt. A French (therefore, much sexier) way to refer to someone’s ass.

Jennifer Lopez says that her best feature is her DERRIÈRE. She claims she stares at it in the mirror for hours
.

desaparecidos
(Spanish) (dess-AH-par-ay-SEE-doss) (noun)

People who have disappeared. In Latin America, this has come to refer to those people abducted and murdered either by the government or by rival political factions.

During the authoritarian rule of Augusto Pinochet in Chile, tens of thousands of DESAPARECIDOS were reported by human rights groups; most of their bodies were never found
.

de trop
(French) (deh TROH) (adj.)

Too much; excessive.

The exterior detailing on that building is really DE TROP. It detracts from the architect’s overall statement
.

dolce far niente
(Italian) (DOL-chay fahr NEE-en-tay) (noun)

Literally, “sweet doing nothing.” More generally, a happy or delicious idleness. Blissful relaxation, of the kind that is accentuated by watching someone else at work while you remain idle.

We spent an afternoon at the beach, dozing in the sun, enjoying the DOLCE FAR NIENTE of summer vacation
.

dolce vita
(Italian) (DOHL-chay VEE-ta) (noun)

The sweet life. A lifestyle in which the mind and the senses are gratified.

We’re here in the Greek Islands, living la DOLCE VITA, eating grapes and cheese and sipping wine while looking at the blue waters of the Mediterranean that surround us. Wish you were here
.

deus ex machina
(Latin) (DAY-us ex MAH-kee-nah) (noun)

A dramatic or literary device that steps in from the outside to resolve plot problems. Generally, this is disliked by writers, but that doesn’t stop many of them from using it in their works.

Charles Dickens was a devotee of the DEUS EX MACHINA, the “good rich man” who steps in at the last moment to resolve all of the hero’s issues and impose a happy ending
.

Nota Bene

Although the term
deus ex machina
is Latin, the original concept was Greek. The Latin literally means “god out of the machine” and refers to the sudden appearance in Greek plays of gods who descended from above, lowered onto the stage by a kind of hook or crane. Aristotle, in his
Poetics
, objected strongly to this sort of plot device.

deus vult
(Latin) (DAY-us WULT) (interjection)

God wills it! When Pope Urban II preached the First Crusade in 1095, his listeners were said to be so moved at the prospect of regaining the Holy Land that they rose and with one voice shouted, “Deus Vult.” Soldiers from across Western Europe began to sew crosses on their clothing and declare their intention of taking up arms in the name of Christ to seize the holy city of Jerusalem.

Suffice it to say, this didn’t end well.

dharma
(Sanskrit) (DAR-mah) (noun)

Natural law, or the natural order of things. To follow one’s dharma is to align oneself with the working out of the natural universe, something that is the aspiration of Buddhists, Hindus, and other practitioners of Eastern religions.

I believe my DHARMA is to be a fast-food restaurant worker, so that’s why I haven’t tried to get another job. Of course, I could be wrong
.

Die ganzen Zahlen hat der liebe Gott gemacht, alles andere ist Menschenwerk
(German) (DEE GAHN-zen ZAH-len hat der LEEB-eh got ge-MACHT al-lez AN-dar-reh ist MENSH-en-verk) (quotation)

Dear God made whole numbers; the rest is man’s work.

—Leopold Kronecker (1823–1891)

dies irae
(Latin) (DEE-ase EE-rye) (noun)

The Day of Wrath; another term for Judgment Day. In the Middle Ages, Thomas of Celano (1200–c.1265) wrote a poem with this title that was eventually turned into a hymn that became part of the Roman Catholic Mass.

dieu et mon droit
(French) (DEE-oo ay mon DRWAH) (phrase)

God and my right. The motto of the monarchy of England. And lest you think it a tad weird that the British monarchy’s motto should be in French, remember that in the fifteenth century when this motto was first adopted, substantial parts of what we now think of as France were under the control of the British crown. Not that this stopped the British and French from hating each other’s guts—it just made the conflict a little more intimate.

divide et impera
(Latin) (dee-VEE-day et IM-pair-ah) (phrase)

Divide and conquer. A political strategy that actually goes back a long way before the time of the Romans, who thought up this slogan, and has lasted up to the present day.

In a strategy of DIVIDE ET IMPERA, the United States supported various Iraqi factions against one another in that country’s civil war
.

docendo discitur
(Latin) (do-KEN-do DIS-kit-ur) (phrase)

Something is learned by teaching. A comment by the Roman Stoic Seneca (4
B.C.
–
A.D.
65). More generally, the best way to learn something is to teach it to someone else.

I discovered that DOCENDO DISCITUR, I understand math much better since having to tutor my little brother in his algebra class
.

dominus vobiscum
(Latin) (DOM-i-nus wo-BISS-kum)(interjection)

The Lord be with you. Traditionally, this is used in the Roman Catholic Mass. The correct response is et cum spirito tuo (and with your spirit).

dona nobis pacem
(Latin) (DO-nah NO-biss PAH-kem) (phrase)

Give us peace. This is a traditional Christian hymn as well as the theme of a number of musical works, including J. S. Bach’s
Mass in B Minor
and “Pray Your Gods” by Toad the Wet Sprocket.

Dopplegänger
(German) (DOP-el-GANG-er) (noun)

Literally, a “double walker.” Someone who is the precise duplicate of someone else. Unlike twins, dopplegängers need not be related, and in fact generally aren’t. They are usually a portent of evil. In general usage, the word can also refer to an object or an idea.

When we were out walking the other day, I saw someone who was my Uncle Ralph’s DOPPLEGÄNGER. I had to call him to make sure he was still in Buffalo and not New Jersey
.

dramatis personae
(Latin) (drah-MA-tiss pair-SONE-eye) (noun)

In theater, a list of the actors and their roles in a play. It is occasionally used to refer to the people involved in a particular event.

In the election controversy of 2000, DRAMATIS PERSONAE included Al Gore, George W. Bush, and Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris, as well as, eventually, members of the Supreme Court
.

dreck
(Yiddish) (DREK) (noun)

Nonsense; trash.

Supermarket tabloids publish the most awful DRECK about celebrities. Almost none of it’s true, but we keep buying them anyway. After all, who doesn’t want to know the details of Kim Kardashian’s divorce?

du jour
(French) (doo ZHOOR) (adv.)

Of the day; current. French menus refer to plats du jour, chef’s daily specials.

Rather than embrace the academic philosophy DU JOUR, I prefer to spend time refining my world view into one I can stick with and defend
.

Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori
(Latin) (DUL-kay et day-COR-oom est pro PAT-ree-ah MOR-ee) (quotation)

How sweet and worthy it is to die for one’s country. This line from Horace (65
B.C.
–8
B.C.
) was originally intended seriously (expressing a general Roman view of patriotism). During World War I it was used by the antiwar poet Wilfred Owen (1893–1918) as the title of a poem to express disillusionment with patriotism and attack those who asked young men to die for the glory of their country. Ironically, Owen himself was killed in the closing weeks of the war.

dum spiro spero
(Latin) (doom SPEE-roh SPAY-roh) (phrase)

While I breathe, I hope. Or, while there’s life, there’s hope.

I may have failed every exam this semester and not turned in any of my papers to my professor, but I’m optimistic I’ll pull through this class somehow. DUM SPIRO SPERO!

Dummkopf
(German) (DOOM-kopf) (noun)

Literally, “stupid head.” Dummy; idiot.

Watch where you’re driving, DUMMKOPF! Can’t you see I’ve got the right of way?

Dura lex sed lex
(Latin) (DOO-rah lex said lex) (phrase)

The law is hard, but it’s the law. Alternately, deal with it! A phrase that should be of considerable use to parents everywhere.