Write Right - Defence Academy of the United Kingdom

Foreign wordsSome originally foreign words such as brochure (French) and arsenal(Arabic) have been thoroughly absorbed into our language. Many more- vice versa (Latin), vendetta (Italian), kudos (Greek) - have becomewell-established and well understood. There are others, however, whichare borderline: understood by some but not all. It is this last group whichposes problems. A reader confronted by a Latin tag or foreign phrasefeels irritated if he or she doesn't understand it, and doubly irritated if it'sbeen used in the wrong way.Listed below are some foreign phrases and their English alternatives.ad hoc (Latin)carte blanche (French)cri de coeur (French)fait accompli (French)glasnost (Russian)modus vivendi (Latin)prima facie (Latin)volte face (French)schadenfreude (German)zeitgeist (German)for a special purposea free handheartfelt appealalready doneopennessway of livingat first sightreversal of opinionpleasure from another’s misfortunethe mood of a period of historyBefore using a foreign word or phrase you should be confident yourreader will understand and appreciate it. If in doubt find a simple Englishexpression that does the job as well.Cave quid dicis, quando, et cui15