![]() ![]() ![]() This means ‘for a particular purpose only’, for example: The project was a guaranteed success ab initio. In the meantime, here are some of the most commonly used ones: If you want to read a detailed guide to Latin words and phrases get hold of a copy of the excellent Nil Desperandum by Eugene Ehrlich. Note that foreign words and phrases are usually italicised in text, although this isn’t always necessary for everyday words and phrases such as ‘vice versa’. To read the most famous Roman of them all, perhaps the greatest leader of all time (Caesar), in his original language and to recite some of the most heart-breaking poetry ever written as it was meant to be read… Is that not reason enough for doing Latin? I also recommend Harry Mount’s easy-to-read Latin primer, Amo, Amas, Amat…And All That. And on the same blog, the ungothroughsomeness of stuff, about a man who tried to ban Latin words and use good old Anglo-Saxon instead. I strongly recommend this wonderful overview of Latin on The Squirrelbasket blog. Having said that, Latin is a wonderful language and fascinating to study. This post is about writing clearly and ensuring your readers understand what you are saying. However, I’m most definitely not recommending that you should start using them indiscriminately in your own writing. I’ve chosen those words and phrases which seem to crop up most often and which, therefore, it’s probably wise to know the meaning of. So why have I included a list of Latin and other foreign words and phrases here? Well, first of all this is by no means an exhaustive or comprehensive list. It just shows they know some foreign words and don’t care if their readers don’t understand them. Some writers think that throwing in a foreign phrase here and there elevates their writing and makes them sound clever. And especially not if the English version will do just as well (and often better). The moral of this tale is that writers should not pepper their work with Latin and other foreign words and phrases if there’s a good chance their readers will not understand them. I was reading a fairly long article in a quality national newspaper about government policy, when the writer suddenly asked: Cui bono?īy the time I’d found my dictionary and learnt that this means something along the lines of ‘for whose benefit?’ or ‘who stands to gain?’, I’d lost interest in reading the rest of the article and went off to make a cup of tea.
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