Episode 170: Words in English that Aren't English Words

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Paige: You're listening to “Coffee with Gringos.” I’m Paige Sutherland.  

Ian: I'm Ian Kennedy.

Paige: And today we are going to be talking about English words that actually aren't English words. It's interesting that we have words that we use every day in English-speaking countries that aren't actually English words, but surprisingly, many people don't know the origin of these words. So, we'll be using words that we use in everyday life that are actually German, French, Latin—non-English. So, we're going to go over a few of those popular ones that we use all the time. So again, listeners if you get lost check out that audio guide and transcript online. Okay, so to kick off this episode, we're going to talk about French words and so, these are words that originate from the French language, but we've stolen them and used them in our English vocabulary, even though they are French words. Some of these I didn't even know that they were French words, so I'm learning as well today. So, the first one is “déjà vu”. It's a very popular phrase you would say that we use a lot in the English-speaking world. It's just when you think that something just happened and so, you're like, oh when this person said this, I had deja vu. I was like, wow, it took me back to this time last week, where I thought I was in the same exact place hearing the same exact conversation and so that is an example of déjà vu. So, it's a very popular phrase, but it is French. The other one I'm going to say in French is “laissez-faire”. Laissez-faire is the easiest translation is “carefree.” Things are laissez-faire when they're good, they're calm, they're relaxing—life is good. So that also is a pretty common phrase in French that we use in English.

Ian: Those are two really good examples you picked out there. I think we hear these all the time and I'm going to go ahead and apologize on behalf of both of us for any of those French or German or Latin speakers out there. I know Latin is a dead language, but we're probably beating these words to death. We're probably doing a bad job of pronunciation so please bear with us. Okay, this is the gringo pronunciation but déjà vu—we hear it all the time, just like you described. We hear laissez-faire a lot if too. If we're talking about business, you say this politician or this industry is very laissez-faire with their policies, meaning it's a more open market, more free market, less regulations. So, I remember hearing that a lot in history class and in economics and things like that. So that's another place where we hear it a lot. A couple of other French ones that we use quite a bit is this next one is a really interesting one. We see it all the time whenever you get an invitation to a wedding or a party or a birthday—whatever it might be—but for us, at least has always stood as the acronym RSVP. I had no idea this had a French origin and it's “RESPONDER SI VOU PLAI” I tried my best with that pronunciation. So, it sounds like the translation is “please respond “and so “please respond, please answer”. So, it's saying are you going to come to this event or not? I think I grew up my whole life probably just guessing what it stood for. I probably made up a few different things, but it's pretty funny that just now understood that this came from that French phrase. Have you ever heard of that before? Was this a new one for you too?

Paige: No, what's so funny is it's clearly an acronym but I never questioned what it would stand for. And it's funny to think that it stands for French words.

Ian: Exactly. And another one, speaking of French parties and French words, we have the word “hors d'oeuvres”. And hors d'oeuvres is a word basically describing, it comes from the word “outside of work.” I don't know how that really translates over to how we use it and more of a setting of little finger foods, we would call it in the US little appetizers. You go to a party or a banquet or some kind of event and you have cheeses and fruits and what have you, all these things to sample and eat. We refer to these as hors d'oeuvres in a colloquial sense so, while it might have a different meaning, I'm not sure in French, this is the way we at least use it.

Paige: In the US when we are in English when we speak about it, which is funny. I feel like if a French person is listening, they'd be like you guys are using that totally wrong.

Ian: Like I said, for that reason we have the disclaimer up for no just like as a society because it's like that is it is appetizers in English but it seems like that's not the root meaning in French. that’s funny, I'm sure we're totally butchering it, so we're just trying our best.

Paige: Hey, Ian. Did you know besides the podcast, Dynamic English offers one-on-one classes with native teachers from all over the world?

Ian: Really? But isn't it just a bunch of grammar lessons?

Paige: Nope, it's completely discussion-based and focuses on topics the student is interested in.

Ian: That's amazing. But what if I'm not living in Chile?

Paige: No problem. Dynamic does online classes. You can be living anywhere.

Ian: Great, but I'm a little intimidated to take the class alone. Can I join with a friend?

Paige: Of course. Dynamic offers group classes of up to four. Plus, for the next month, Coffee with Gringos listeners get 10% off individual or group classes. So go online to www.dynamicenglish.cl and mention that you are a listener and get your discount.

Ian: Well, I'm sold. Sign me up.

Paige: So now we're going to switch gears now. So those are just some examples of French words that we have stolen from the French language and use in English and so now we're going to switch to German words. So again, these are words that we use commonly in the US pretending they're English words, and I didn't know that they're German words. And so, this one I think is very popular and it does sound pretty German, so I guess it makes sense, but “doppelgänger”. And you say this often when you're describing people, you're like, “Oh my god, Steve I just saw someone on the train. He's your doppelgänger. He's your look alike. He looks exactly like you. He's your twin—doppelgänger. So that's pretty common to use. It is German, but we do use it. So, the next word is a word that I had no idea was German. I thought it was an English word and it’s “angst”. It's commonly used to describe teenagers because they have a lot of emotions and so, you have a lot of angst when you're a teenager—you're angry, you have anxiety, you have all this stress and so, a common word together is like “teenage angst”. It's kind of like punk rock music, but I had no idea it was German.

Ian: Yeah, me too. You hear the word “doppelgänger” and just the sound of it can really indicate that it's probably a German word but angst was another one that kind of made me raise my eyebrows. I didn't know that one and it's a great way to describe it. We talk about teenage angst, you hear this a lot with emo music, as we call it, punk music, like you said, as well. And you might even hear it as well in the context of “existential angst” so people are dreadful of their life or they're confused. They don't know what their purpose is. I actually feel like this word is probably pretty relevant to the last couple of years living through the pandemic. People have been feeling a lot of angst. But for me, I didn't know this word was of German origin either. So very interesting. And then moving on to a couple of words that I found very interesting that are similar. The first one I think is again, kind of similar to doppelgänger and the sound of it is very German but we have a very common word—"kindergarten.” So “kinder” comes from the word “children” in German, “garten” is “garden”. So, it's almost saying a garden for children, obviously in the context of education and having all of them together. It's typically that first year of school, so it's for young children. And the second one that we have, which again was a bit more surprising to me, I also didn't know is German is “iceberg” which comes from the German translation of “eisberg”. “Iceberg “sounds a little bit more German in that pronunciation and “eis” comes from the German word for “ice” and “berg” is “mountain”. So, a mountain of ice that typically happens to be in the water. So, this is another interesting one that we both have learned together today.

Paige: I think “kindergarten” I knew. I think like you said, we pronounce it differently but it does kind of sound German, but the “iceberg”? No—no idea. I mean, yeah, that was definitely very new for me. It’s just funny to think about what words we steal and why.

Ian: Well, it's so interesting because that's what makes language so great and interesting is that it's always evolving. It's never a static thing where languages are always borrowing words from other cultures, other languages and that's due to conquest or travel or history, what have you. And so, it's just really interesting to, to look at how languages are so malleable and they're not just black and white. You have so much mixture going on and I think that makes it a bit more interesting.

Paige: So those are some German ones. There are many more but we just wanted to pick a few.

The final language that we steal from in English, which I think most languages deal from because it's the origin of all languages is Latin. But some popular Latin phrases that we use here in the US, we are going to just list a few. My favorite one that I use pretty commonly is “carpe diem.” It's a very popular, philosophical phrase of just the way that you should live your life which is “seize the day.” Carpe diem has kind of transformed into the more modern phrase of YOLO, which most people know is “you only live once.” So, it's just basically a lifestyle, a way of living, of just living in the moment and just enjoying it all. So, seize the day. I like that. I like that. Latin phrase. Then another one that is sounds very Latin as well, but again, we use it so commonly that I forget it's “per diem.” And we use that a lot to describe someone's work schedule, “oh, are you full time or are you per diem?” So, it means basically, do you work on a salary where you're working forty hours a week or do you just work per diem which is you work on Tuesday or you work that day and that is on the payroll. It will say “per diem gets thirty dollars an hour. Salary is fifty-thousand dollars a year or whatever. So, the word is not just clinically used. It's used in actual payroll systems, which is funny.

Ian: Yeah, these are definitely two that you get used to so often, and again, all the ones that we list today are in that way, but it's cool to look back and see where they come from. So those are two that we use a lot and two that I can think of that are also really common starting with the first one is “ad nauseum” which basically translates in English “to the point of sickness.” So, it's like saying it's making you nauseous or feeling sick to your stomach so, this is usually used to say that someone or something is repeating something too much or something is just being talked about too much, to the point of getting sick of it. So, you could say something “like the radio station played the number one hit song ad nauseum.” which happens a lot. You get a popular song and it gets played over and over and over until people are sick and tired of it. So that's a good example of that “ad nauseum” right there. And another one that we hear a lot and I would say most commonly, we hear it in a sort of legal contexts is the Latin word “pro bono,” which translates English essentially to “for the good.” And this is actually a shortened version of the phrase “pro bono publico”, which means “for the greater good” and in legal terms, this is basically saying that a lawyer or legal team or whoever is doing work without pay. It’s sort of a donation of services for someone when they're representing them so, if a lawyer is working pro bono, they're working for free, and it's usually because they believe in the cause, they believe in the person who they're defending or who they're helping and they're doing it out of goodwill more than for some money. So that is another example that we hear quite a bit and I think we could go on and on and on all day about a lot of these. We just don't have enough time for that.

Paige: Yeah, definitely. I mean, these are just some key ones that we wanted to point out. Definitely go do some Google searching, find some other ones because it is interesting to know where all these words come from that we claim are English and they are not. So as always, listeners, if you get lost, check out that audio guide and transcript online www.dynamicenglish.cl. As always, thanks for listening.

Ian: We'll see you next time.

Paige: Coffee with gringos was brought to you by dynamic English, where you can learn English simply by using it. If you're interested in taking classes or just want to learn more, go to our website at Dynamic english.cl Thanks for listening.

Key Vocabulary, Phrases & Slang:

 1.     to kick off (phrasal verb): to start

a.     Let’s kick off our episode with some French examples.

2.     acronym (noun): an abbreviation formed from the initial letter of other words and pronounced as a word.

a.     RSVP is an acronym that I never understood the true meaning of.

3.     to stand for (something) (phrasal verb): to signify; to mean

a.     The acronym NASA stands for “National Aeronautics and Space Administration.”

4.     to sample (verb): to try or to taste something.

a.     I love to sample different food and drinks when I visit a new place.

5.     disclaimer (noun): a statement that denies responsibility.

a.      We need to share our disclaimer before we start talking about these words.

6.     to switch gears (idiom): to change the subject of a discussion.

a.      Let’s switch gears and now talk about German words.

7.     dreadful (adjective): causing great suffering, fear, or unhappiness.

a.     It is easy to feel dreadful with all the craziness going on in the world.  

8.     static (adjective): unchanged.

a.     One of the best things about language is that it isn’t static and is always evolving.

9.     malleable (adjective): able to be moved or changed.

a.     Languages are very malleable and take influences from other languages.

10.  payroll (noun): a list of a company’s employees and the amount of money they are paid.

a.     There are only five employees on the payroll.