A Certain Je Ne Sais Quoi : The Origin of Foreign Words Used in English

by Chloe Rhodes

  priest (Russian/Evenki)

  A religious practitioner serving the small nomadic communities in Siberia, Mongolia, and northern China is known by the local Evenki-speaking people as a “shaman.” Shamanism works on the principle that the lives of those on earth are shaped and influenced by spirits, over whom a shaman has power. The word is now used in many different cultures to describe a priest or sorcerers and in the West, the New Age community uses the term for its spiritual leaders.

  Get those bits of half-chewed chicken bone off me, Steve! Thinking you saw a ghost on a short cut through the cemetery does not make you a shaman.

  Sic

  thus, in such a way (Latin)

  Used in publishing to indicate a misspelling or unconventional use of a word, “sic,” written in brackets, is the editor’s way of indicating that she is aware of the error but is simply quoting material in exactly the form in which it first appeared. It is especially useful for publications whose readership is proud of its pedantry and takes pleasure in writing in to point out syntactical oversights.

  In a heartfelt letter to the president, five-year-old Scarlet Jones wrote, “I’m getting to like you more now, but I do miss George Brush [sic].”

  Sine qua non

  without which not (Latin)

  This phrase, in its Greek form, was originally used by Aristotle to describe a legal condition that was absolutely essential and could not be done without. It has been used in English since around 1600, and the term is still used in this way in the British legal system but has also been adopted more widely to mean any crucial ingredient or prerequisite without which the normal order of things could not proceed.

  Let me just call Gustav to ask for a recommendation. Really, how could you think of cooking for yourself; these days a personal macrobiotic chef is the sine qua non of the Hollywood elite.

  Skol

  cheers (Danish/Norwegian/Swedish)

  Like all groups of marauding invaders, the Vikings liked a little tipple at the end of the working day. The word they used to accompany a toast was “skol,” which has often been mistranslated as “skull” because of the Vikings’ mythical practice of drinking out of the skulls of their victims. In fact, the word comes from the old Norse word “skál,” meaning “shell” or “bowl.”

  Martin woke up dressed in a tutu and tied to a lamppost. He tried to piece together the events that had led him there, but all he could remember was shouting “skol” before everything went dark.

  Smorgasbord

  sandwich table (Swedish)

  In Sweden a “smörgåsbord” is a type of varied meal in which numerous dishes are arrayed on a table for guests to choose whichever items they like. It consists of both hot and cold dishes and traditionally includes smoked fish and meatballs. English speakers borrowed the word as an alternative to “buffet,” but its idiomatic meaning has since broadened and it is used to describe any situation in which a range of choices are presented.

  You are all in for a treat tonight, ladies and gentlemen; we’ve got a veritable smorgasbord of acts to tempt and bedazzle you.

  Spiel

  a play or game (German)

  Exactly what playing has to do with long-winded speeches isn’t clear, but the German word “spiel” has been absorbed into English to describe an extravagant address or argument that is generally delivered in order to convince the listener to believe in something or buy it. It comes from the Middle High German “spilon,” meaning “to revel,” so perhaps giving a spiel was more fun in the Middle Ages than it is today.

  An hour and twenty minutes I was trapped at the front door this morning trying to fend off that salesman! I thought I knew about cleaning, but after his spiel, I was an expert in all twenty-seven different kinds of dust.

  Spiritus mundi

  soul, spirit of the world (Latin)

  The concept of “spiritus mundi” has its roots in the philosophy of Plato, but the phrase itself was coined by fifteenth-century German astrologer and occult philosopher Agrippa von Nettesheim. He used it as a label for the spirit element that he believed permeated the whole world and was the force behind alchemy and occult occurrences. The psychologist Carl Jung elaborated on these ideas when he discussed the idea of a collective subconscious, and the term is still used by astrologers and spiritualists today.

  Runa closed her eyes and jangled her bangle-laden wrists; she was about to channel images from the spiritus mundi and liked there to be an appropriately grandiose buildup.

  Status quo

  state in which (Latin)

  Shortened from the longer Latin phrase “status quo ante bellum,” meaning “the state in which things were before the war,” this was used in Roman diplomacy to negotiate a return to the previous order of things before a conflict. The phrase is still used to describe an existing political situation—Ronald Reagan famously said, “Status quo, you know, is Latin for ‘the mess we’re in.’ ” And we now use it for any abiding set of circumstances that are either under threat of change or need changing.

  Norman liked the fact that he’d worked in the same office for thirty years. For him, maintaining the status quo was one of life’s true pleasures.

  Subpoena

  under penalty (Latin)

  A subpoena is an official written instruction to an individual to testify in, or bring evidence to, court or face punishment. However, in their bid to be more accessible to those unfamiliar with Latin legal terms, civil courts in England and Wales have recently replaced the word with the phrase “witness summons,” which does explain rather neatly what the Latin word means.

  Oh, no, I can’t believe it—I’ve got a subpoena.

  I’m so sorry, Frank—that’s terrible. Is it contagious?

  T

  Temet nosce

  know thyself (Latin)

  “Temet nosce,” the Latin translation of the Greek phrase “gnothi seauton,” which was engraved in the forecourt of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, dates back to the fourth century. It translates as “know yourself ” and carries with it the idea that you must first understand yourself before you can understand others around you. Exactly which of the great Greek scholars came up with this profound aphorism is not clear; it may have been Socrates, or possibly Pythagoras, or one of four other sages. It has long been used in English by those of a philosophical bent and has been widely quoted since it was used by the character of the Oracle in the 1999 dystopian sci-fi film The Matrix.

  Higgins was a terrible drunk—his school motto had been “ Temet nosce,” and he’d taken it so much to heart that he regularly bored his companions to tears with his obsessive self-analysis.

  Terra firma

  solid ground (Latin)

  This phrase was used in the labeling of maps in the seventeenth century in order to distinguish areas of dry land from the parts covered by seas or oceans. We also use “terra” as the scientific name for our planet, and “terra firma” more colloquially to describe being on solid ground, rather than aboard a ship or in a plane.

  Well, Stephanie, I’ve loved every minute of our cruise, but after last night’s rough waters, I have to admit I’m glad to be back on terra firma.

  Tête-à-tête

  head-to-head (French)

  This phrase can be used in French and English to describe any intimate meeting between two people where the arrival of a third party would be considered an intrusion. It flourished in eighteenth-century tearooms, where gossip was rife and whispered exchanges of confidences over a muffin were the best form of entertainment available. Sadly in modern usage it has been appropriated by pushy middle managers who are prone to suggesting “a quick tête-à-tête” as if they wanted a cozy chat, when they actually mean “an intimidating personal assessment.”

  Michael, have you got a moment? Let’s have a little tête-à-tête over coffee in the chill-out zone.

  Thug

  thief (Hindi/Marathi)

  In Hindi and Marathi (the fourth most spoken Indian language) “th
ag” was the name given to a member of an Indian network of gangs who murdered and robbed travelers and often strangled their victims. They operated well into the nineteenth century, when they were driven out by the British, and by 1839 the term had come to mean “ruffian” or “cutthroat.” These days we use “thug” to describe someone hired by criminal groups to do their dirty work as well as any brutishly violent male.

  Beverley walked like a thug, swore like a thug, swung a baseball bat like a thug, and terrorized all the local businesses. And yet nothing could quite play down the fact that he had a woman’s name.

  Tour de force

  feat of strength (French)

  Not to be confused with the Tour de France, an annual long-distance bicycle race, this epic-sounding French expression denotes an achievement that has required great skill or endeavor to complete. In recent years it has been somewhat devalued in literary circles through overuse by critics who employ it too often to describe a well-crafted novel, but it’s still a valid term of praise for an outstanding sporting or artistic achievement.

  Well, Jim, we were expecting to see some good bowling from you, but that was a tour de force!

  Tout de suite

  at once (French)

  This phrase became common in English during the Great War, when many British soldiers spent time fighting in France. Like many French phrases adopted by the English, it was often misspelled and sometimes deliberately mispronounced. In 1917 an edition of satirical magazine Punch ran a cartoon featuring a soldier saying to inquisitive French children, “Nah, then, alley [go] toot sweet, an’ the tooter the sweeter.”

  Mrs. Kendle watched in horror as the head of the marzipan bride-groom wobbled off the wedding cake. She could hear the guests outside and knew she must reverse the decapitation tout de suite.

  Trek

  a long journey (Afrikaans)

  “Trek” entered English in the nineteenth century from South Africa, where the word was used by the Boers for a journey by ox wagon. The Groot Trek (1835 onward) refers to the journey made by ten thousand Boers, who journeyed north and north-east from the Cape Colony to escape British colonial rule. The word is universally familiar thanks to Star Trek, the hugely popular long-running sci-fi series created by Gene Roddenberry, whose ashes made perhaps the longest trek possible when they were sent into space aboard space shuttle Columbia in 1992.

  It was quite a trek up the hillside and along the ridge, but Sally was determined to boldly go where no girl in kitten heels had gone before.

  Tzar

  emperor (Russian)

  In Russia, Bulgaria, and Serbia, “tzar” has been the term for the sovereign since the fourteenth century. The word is a Russian adaptation of the Latin “caesar” (also the root of the German “Kaiser”) and was used to describe all Russian emperors until 1917. English speakers have in turn adopted the word to describe any politically powerful figure with jurisdiction over a certain problem area, such as a drug tzar or a terrorism tzar.

  Okay, staff, I’d like to announce a new appointment this term; Mr. Jacobson is going to take on the role of punctuality tzar, so arrive by eight thirty at the latest, or you’ll have him to answer to.

  Tsunami

  harbor wave (Japanese)

  The literal meaning of this Japanese word comes from “tsu,” “harbor,” and “nami,” “waves.” However, the waves that the word describes are not confined to harbors, nor do they have anything to do with tides, but rather deep sea earthquakes. They were observed as early as 426 BC, when the Greek historian Thucydides correctly suggested that they might be caused by tremors under the ocean. Nearly two hundred Japanese tsunamis have been officially recorded, and the high incidence of the phenomenon in the oceans around Japan has resulted in the adoption of their word across many languages, including English. The Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 was one of history’s worst natural disasters, with hundreds of thousands of casualties.

  I’ve never really liked the sea. All the seaweed and sharks and tsunamis—no, a bath once a week has always been more than enough splashing about for me.

  Tycoon

  great lord (Japanese)

  Shoguns or generals in the Japanese army were given the title “taikun,” meaning “great lord or prince,” and when Matthew Perry, commodore of the U.S. Navy, compelled Japan to open trading with the West in 1854, he took the word back home with him. Abraham Lincoln’s cabinet members used it as a nickname for the president, and it has since come to describe powerful and wealthy businessmen who have made their fortune from a particular industry, such as oil or shipping.

  Mr. Chakrabarti’s ever-expanding chain of menswear stores had led some gossips to dub him “the shirt tycoon.”

  U

  Übermensch

  superman (German)

  This word was coined by Friedrich Nietzsche in his 1883 work Thus Spoke Zarathustra, in which he described a more evolved version of humankind—a superhuman in comparison with which mankind as we know it would seem as underdeveloped as apes. The word is used in English primarily in a philosophical context, though “über” is often turned into a prefix as an alternative to “extremely” in phrases like “über cool.”

  It would take ten people working flat out on that project to get it done inside a week, and there are only three of us—what does he think we are—team Übermensch?

  Ukulele

  jumping flea (Hawaiian)

  The ukulele was a Portuguese instrument originally called a “braghuina,” but when Portuguese immigrants arrived in Hawaii in the nineteenth century and played it in front of the locals, the Hawaiians adopted it as their own. They rechristened it the “jumping flea” in reference to the way in which the musician’s fingers jump up and down the fret board. The “uke” reached mainland America in 1915 at the Panama Pacific International Exposition and has been a part of American music ever since.

  The hot favorite at the Alabama Ukulele Play-Offs stepped onto the stage with a swagger—they didn’t call him “Fourteen-fingered Frankie” for nothing.

  Utopia

  no place (Greek)

  In 1516 Sir Thomas More wrote a book about a fictional island on which the community functioned in perfect harmony. He called the eponymous island “Utopia” from the Greek words “ou,” “not” (which sounds nearly the same as “eu,” “good”) and “topos,” “place,” and the word has been used ever since to describe a flawless society. Over the centuries many people have chased the ideal of a utopia, sometimes with disastrous results. The word’s antonym is “dystopia” (“dus” being Greek for “bad”) and is a nightmarish imagined world, such as the one created by George Orwell in 1984.

  Sunshine, sangria, friendly neighbors, and endless golf courses—the map might have told him it was southern Spain, but Mick felt as if he had found utopia.

  V

  Vade mecum

  go with me (Latin)

  In the Middle Ages physicians, astrologers, parsons, and tradesmen often carried with them small manuals filled with useful references and calculation aids appropriate to their field of expertise. These were called “vade mecums” or “go-with-mes” because they were taken everywhere, often suspended on a string or ribbon from the belt. We still use the term for any handy object or booklet that is carried on the person and more widely for specialist handbooks.

  Alan patted his top pocket anxiously and felt his heart rate calm as his fingers touched on the hard cover of his angler’s vade mecum, knowing he had never had a successful fishing trip without it.

  Vampire

  a nocturnal reanimated corpse (Hungarian/Bulgarian/Ukrainian)

  In folktales vampires were said to revisit loved ones and cause mischief or deaths where they had once lived. The etymology of the word is unclear, but it possibly stems from a Kazan Tatar word for “witch.” The ancient vampire was bloated and dark-countenanced, unlike the nineteenth-century reinvention, which is gaunt and pale. The term entered English in the eighteenth century, when vampire supers
titions arrived from the Balkans and Eastern Europe. Our best-known fictional vampire is the eponymous villain of Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897), which was inspired by the legends surrounding fifteenth-century Wallachian Prince Vlad the Impaler. It wasn’t until 2005 that vampires once again earned such widespread fame, with the debut of Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight, the first novel in a series of modern-day vampire love stories. When Twilight was made into a movie in 2008, the series quickly became a worldwide phenomenon.