LOAN WORDSOF

LATIN PHRASESBy Calvin Chen & Oscar Pan & Thomas Chen

AD NAUSEAM( O R A D N AU S E U M )

Literally “until nausea”, or “to the point of nausea”

Indo-European root for “to, at, until” is “At”

Latin “Ad”, Hebrew “עד AhD”.

“Nausea” means “seasickness”

Now it is used when anything is overly done or said,

becoming a tedious thing.

Ex. Jeff’s hairstyle is a topic discussed ad nauseum.

ALMA MATER

Literally “nourishing mother”

Used in Rome to describe mother goddesses, Ceres

or Cybele.

Original name for the University of Bologna is

“Alma Mater Studiorum” or the “Nourishing Mother

of Studies”.

Now used in the US as the university one had

graduated from.

Ex. 蕭萬長‘ s alma mater is NCCU.

BONA FIDE

Literally “good faith”.

Originally an adverb, then also used as an

adjective.

Later acquired the meaning of “true”.

Ex. Calvin is a bona fide chick magnet.

CARPE DIEM

Originally part of the longer “Carpe diem quam

minimum credula postero ”, literally “Seize the Day,

putting as little trust as possible in the future”.

Originally meaning “what will be will be”.

Later developed into “Seize the day!”, enjoy the

moment while you can!

CUM LAUDE

Literally “with honor”.

Later became a title used to honor graduate students

who have acquired the corresponding grade requirement.

Cum laude, magna cum laude, summa cum laude are its

various levels.

Ex. Through studying day and night, Oscar finally acquired

the summa cum laude honor upon graduation.

DE FACTO

Literally “concerning fact”.

Later became “in actuality or in practice”

Opposite is “de jure”, or “in name”.

Also a legal term, which means in practice but not

necessarily ordained by law.

Ex. Calvin is a de facto metrosexual.

ET CETERA

Literally “and the rest”.

Loan translation from Greek “kai ta hetera”, also

meaning “and other things”.

Often abbreviated into “etc.” nowadays.

Ex. There are many guys with awesome hairdos in

this room, such as Oscar, Calvin, Thomas, Michael

and of course Jeff, etc.

REQUIESCAT IN PACE

Literally “rest in peace ”.

Started to appear on tombstones in the 8th century,

and popularized in the 18th.

Associated with the Catholic doctrine in which the

soul parts from body but then returns at Judgment

day.

STATUS QUO

Literally “state in which”.

Commonly used as “status quo ante”, or “the state

before (some event)”.

Now often associated with “maintain”, meaning to

keep things as they presently are.

Ex. Calvin is in love, but he wishes to maintain the

status quo, so he refrains from acting too out of line.

VICE VERSA

Literally “turn around”.

Vice means “turn, change”, versa means “turn

about”.

Thus “vice versa ” came to mean “the other way

around”.

Ex. Calvin loves freshmen girls, and vice versa.

REFERENCES

www.memidex.com/

Oxforddictionaries.com/

www.etymonline.com/

http://en.wiktionary.org

THANK YOU