English 1
Foreign Words & Phrases
Directions: on the handout with your word
definitions, copy what I have as a pic to go
with that word.
Alma Mater
1. (n) the school from which you
graduate
This picture is an example because…
I graduated from WKU so it is my alma mater.
Alma Mater
2. (n) the official song or anthem of a
school, college, or university
http://youtu.be/avAD4CX1IzY
This picture is an example because…
“Rocky Top” is the official song for UT.
Bon Voyage
(interjection) Have a good trip !
Cum Laude
(adj & adv) with honor
- used to indicate good academic
performance
This picture is an example because…
she graduated Cum Laude as noted on her diploma
Deja Vu
(n) the almost physical sensation, when one is in a
place or having an experience, that one has been
in that place or had the experience before.
Deja Vu movie trailer
This picture is an example because…
it’s a movie about deja vu
Du Jour
(adj) of the day – French;
available or being served today
This picture is an example because…
it shows the day’s specials
E Pluribus Unum
(n) from the many, one – Latin;
the motto of the US,
printed on US currency
This picture is an example because…
it shows the motto printed on US currency
Esprit De Corps
(n) a sense of pride and honor shared
by members of a group
This picture is an example because…
all these are groups whose members
share a sense of pride
Faux Pas
a tactless error in manners or behavior;
social blunder
view video of FL Obama and Queen
This picture is an example because…
it shows First Lady Michelle O’Bama
with her arm around the Queen of England; it is a
R.S.V.P.
abbreviation of “respondez s’il vous plait” – French;
please reply
This picture is an example because…
on many invitations, the sender asks you to RSVP –
let them know if you will be attending.
Verbatim
(adj & adv) using exactly the same words;
word for word
This picture is an example because…
the pledge is something most of us
can recite verbatim.
Ad Nauseam
(adv) until one is sick fo the thing
being done, told, or the like
This picture is an example because…
(you guess)
the woman is sick of watching football.
Alpha & Omega
1. The first and last letters of the Greek
alphabet
2. The beginning and end; the first and
the last .
This picture is an example because…
according to the Bible,
God is the beginning and the end.
Avant Garde
(n) a group that actively experiments with and
applies new and unconventional techniques,
especially in the arts
This picture is an example because
Madonna and Lady Gaga have become two of this
Noun
centuries avant garde in the entertainment world.
Avant-Garde
(adj) of or relating to artistic
experimentation and invention.
This picture is an example because
ADJ
Lady Gaga exhibits avant-garde fashions…
and this appals some conservative-minded people.
Carte Blanche
unrestricted authority, freedom, or discretion
This picture is an example because…
mobsters take the authority to make their own laws
and set their own rules.
Caveat Emptor
the principle that one who buys something does so
at his or her own risk.
This picture is an example because…
it means if you buy a fake watch…it’s on you.
Hoi Polloi
the masses or common people
(usually a term of contempt)
This picture is an example because…
sheep blindly follow other sheep;
they travel in a herd.
Joie De Vivre
(n) joy of living (French);
the intense pleasure one takes from
being alive
This picture is an example because
some things that give make me happy to be alive are
good friends, beautiful vacations, and delicious food.
Prima Donna
(n) a high-strung, vain, and
temperamental person.
This picture is an example because…
“Alright, Paris, we get it - you're rich, vain and bored.”
Status Quo
(n) the existing state;
conditions as they are at a given time
This picture is an example because…
Atticus Finch used his skills as a lawyer to challenge
the racist status quo in Maycomb, Alabama
Tabula Rasa
anything, especially the mind, that is considered to
be blank and without impression, until it is formed
through experience
This picture is an example because…
it shows a baby who has not had experiences
in the real world to shape him/her