PART E — FOREIGN WORDS & PHRASES USED IN ENGLISH

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Formal written and spoken English — precisely the register competitive exams draw from — is thick with borrowed phrases that were never translated, only absorbed whole. Knowing these on sight matters for two reasons: first, they appear directly as vocabulary and one-word-substitution items; second, RC passages use them routinely without any signal that a "foreign" word is coming, so an aspirant who doesn't recognise ad hoc or bona fide on sight loses a beat mid-sentence exactly when speed matters most.

Phrase	Origin	Meaning	Example Sentence
Ad hoc	Latin	for this specific purpose only, improvised	The committee was an ad hoc body formed just to handle the flood relief.
Bona fide	Latin	genuine, in good faith	Only bona fide residents of the district were allowed to vote in the local poll.
Status quo	Latin	the existing state of affairs	The reform bill threatened to disturb a status quo that had lasted decades.
Per se	Latin	by itself, intrinsically	The rule is not unfair per se, but its enforcement has been uneven.
Vice versa	Latin	the other way round	Employers can now work from home, and vice versa, employees can visit the office as needed.
Quid pro quo	Latin	a favour exchanged for a favour	The deal looked less like diplomacy and more like a blatant quid pro quo.
In toto	Latin	entirely, as a whole	The court rejected the appeal in toto.
Ipso facto	Latin	by that very fact	A minor cannot, ipso facto, enter into a binding contract.
Modus operandi	Latin	a characteristic method of working	Investigators recognised the modus operandi from an earlier case.
Sine qua non	Latin	an essential condition	Trust is the sine qua non of any lasting partnership.
De facto	Latin	in practice, though not officially	He remained the de facto head of the family business long after retiring on paper.
De jure	Latin	by law, officially	The territory was de jure independent, though foreign troops still controlled its borders.
Pro bono	Latin	done without payment, for the public good	The lawyer took the case pro bono.
Persona non grata	Latin	an unwelcome person	After the scandal, he became persona non grata at the club.
Mea culpa	Latin	an acknowledgment of one's own fault	The minister issued a rare public mea culpa after the policy failed.
Vis-à-vis	French	in relation to, compared with	The rupee weakened vis-à-vis the dollar this quarter.
Fait accompli	French	a thing already done, not open to change	By the time the board objected, the merger was a fait accompli.
Déjà vu	French	a feeling of having already experienced something	Watching the same policy fail twice gave the analysts a strong sense of déjà vu.
Raison d'être	French	the primary reason for something's existence	Public service was the organisation's entire raison d'être.
Coup d'état	French	a sudden, illegal seizure of power	The coup d'état was over within hours, the army in control of every ministry.
Laissez-faire	French	a policy of minimal government interference	Critics blamed the crash on decades of laissez-faire regulation.
Rendezvous	French	a meeting, usually pre-arranged	The two ministers had a private rendezvous before the summit began.
Cliché	French	an overused expression or idea	"Think outside the box" has become such a cliché that it barely means anything now.
Faux pas	French	a socially embarrassing mistake	Mentioning the layoffs at the celebration was an unfortunate faux pas.
Carte blanche	French	complete freedom to act	The new CEO was given carte blanche to restructure the company.
Déjà entendu	French	a feeling of having already heard something	The minister's promises produced a weary déjà entendu among reporters.
Esprit de corps	French	a shared spirit of loyalty within a group	Years of shared hardship had built a fierce esprit de corps in the regiment.
En masse	French	as a group, all together	The workers resigned en masse after the pay cut was announced.
Bête noire	French	a person or thing one particularly dislikes	Red tape was the bête noire of every small business owner in the survey.
Nouveau riche	French	a person newly wealthy, often seen as ostentatious	The neighbourhood had filled up with nouveau riche families flaunting their new fortunes.
Avant-garde	French	pioneering, ahead of current trends, especially in art	Her avant-garde staging divided the audience sharply.
Zeitgeist	German	the defining spirit or mood of a particular period	The novel captured the zeitgeist of a generation anxious about technology.
Schadenfreude	German	pleasure derived from another's misfortune	There was a note of schadenfreude in the rival firm's press statement.
Wanderlust	German	a strong desire to travel	Years indoors during the pandemic left many people with an acute wanderlust.
Doppelganger	German	a look-alike or double of a living person	The witness swore she'd seen the fugitive's doppelganger at the station.
Kindergarten	German	a school or class for young children	The new policy extends free education down to kindergarten level.
Blitzkrieg	German	a swift, intensive military offensive; a fast, overwhelming effort	The company launched a blitzkrieg marketing campaign ahead of the festival season.
Ersatz	German	a substitute, usually inferior	The refreshments were an ersatz version of the promised banquet.
Alma mater	Latin	one's former school, college, or university	He returned to his alma mater to deliver the convocation address.
Curriculum vitae	Latin	a detailed résumé	Candidates were asked to submit a curriculum vitae along with two references.
Et cetera	Latin	and so on, and other similar things	The store sold stationery, gifts, novelties, et cetera.
Vox populi	Latin	the voice of the people, public opinion	The editorial claimed to speak the vox populi, though the poll suggested otherwise.
Terra firma	Latin	solid ground, dry land	After weeks at sea, the sailors were glad to be back on terra firma.
Magnum opus	Latin	a person's greatest work	The novel is widely considered the author's magnum opus.
Non sequitur	Latin	a conclusion that does not logically follow	His answer was a total non sequitur, unrelated to the question asked.
Tabula rasa	Latin	a blank slate	The new manager approached the failing department as a tabula rasa.
Verbatim	Latin	word for word, exactly as said	The clerk recorded the witness's statement verbatim.
Amicus curiae	Latin	a "friend of the court," an outside advisor to a case	The bar association filed an amicus curiae brief supporting the petition.
Habeas corpus	Latin	a legal order requiring a detainee be brought before a court	The lawyers filed a habeas corpus petition on the detainee's behalf.
Prima facie	Latin	on first appearance, at first glance	The evidence established a prima facie case against the accused.
Ex gratia	Latin	given as a favour, not as an obligation	The airline offered an ex gratia payment to the affected passengers.
Cul-de-sac	French	a dead-end street; a situation with no way forward	Negotiations had reached a diplomatic cul-de-sac.
Genre	French	a category of art or writing sharing a style	The film blends two genres, part thriller and part comedy.
Entrepreneur	French	one who organises and runs a business venture	The scheme offers seed capital to young entrepreneurs.
Rapport	French	a close, harmonious relationship	The new coach quickly built a rapport with the team.
Résumé	French	a summary, especially of qualifications	Please attach an updated résumé to your application.
Détente	French	an easing of tension between rivals	The two countries entered a period of cautious détente after the ceasefire.
Faux	French	false, fake, artificial	The lobby was decorated with faux marble columns.
Éclat	French	brilliant, conspicuous success or display	The festival opened with considerable éclat.
Bourgeois	French	of the comfortable middle class, often used disapprovingly	The critic dismissed the exhibit as a bourgeois indulgence.
Kismet	Turkish/Arabic (via Persian)	fate, destiny	Meeting again after twenty years felt like kismet.
Guru	Sanskrit	a teacher or expert regarded with deep respect	She is considered a guru in the field of behavioural economics.
Karma	Sanskrit	the principle that actions have consequences, often across lifetimes	Colleagues joked that his sudden bad luck was simply karma.
Pundit	Hindi (via Sanskrit)	a learned commentator or expert	Political pundits had all predicted a different result.
Mantra	Sanskrit	a repeated word or phrase, or a guiding principle	"Customer first" became the company's unofficial mantra.
Amok (run amok)	Malay	in an uncontrolled, frenzied, dangerous manner	Rumours of the shortage sent shoppers running amok through the aisles.
Bazaar	Persian	a marketplace	The old city's bazaar sold everything from spices to silk.
Loot	Hindi	goods stolen or seized, especially during war or riot	Police recovered a large amount of loot from the abandoned truck.

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