Phrases Your Pompous Neighbor Might Say

Bon Mot (bouh MOE); French
Definition: A clever remark or witticism.
Usage: He's a delightful party guest — well-dressed, polite, and always ready with a bon mot.
Worth Noting: Say "bon" with a nasalized French sound; the N is not actually pronounced.

Chacun à Son Goût (sha-KUHN ahh sauh GOOO); French
Definition: Each to his or her own taste.
Usage: I'd never install an aboveground pool, but chacun à son goût.

Eminence Grise (AY-mee-nahns GREEZ); French
Definition: Someone who wields considerable power secretly or unofficially, a "power behind the throne."
Usage: Most of us know that Cindy's 10-year-old is the éminence grise of the block association.

Je Ne Sais Pas (jehn say pah); French
Definition: I don't know.
Usage: What day does Saint Valentine's fall on this year? Je ne sais pas.
Worth Noting: Often confused with je ne sais quoi, which means something that can't be described.

Joie de Vivre (jwa dih VEE-vruh); French
Definition: A hearty enjoyment of life. Literally, "joy of living."
Usage: Granny has real joie de vivre. She drives a convertible, listens to rock and roll, and still surfs waves with the best of them.

Ne Plus Ultra (neh ploos UL-trah); Latin
Definition: The ultimate; the highest point of achievement or excellence; the most profound degree of a quality or state. Literally, "no more beyond."
Usage: Heirloom roses are the ne plus ultra of garden flowers, but how are your mums doing?

Persona non Grata (purr-SOH-nuh nahn GRAH-tuh); Latin
Definition: Unacceptable or unwelcome.
Usage: Billy has been persona non grata around our house ever since he hit a baseball through our sliding-glass door.

Pièce de Résistance (pee-ESS dih ray-zees-TAHNSS); French
Definition: The prized item in a collection; a cook's signature dish.
Usage: Mary's scrumptious chocolate cake is always the pièce de résistance of the neighborhood potluck.

Raison d'Etre (RAY-zohn DEH-truh); French
Definition: Reason for being.
Usage: My dog Bruno's raison d'être is simple: Hound the cat as much as possible.

Schadenfreude (shah-dunn-FROY-duh); German
Definition: Pleasure felt at another person's misfortune.
Usage: I know it's schadenfreude, but I was inwardly thrilled when my evil officemate gained an extra 20 pounds.

Sui Generis (soo-ee JEN-urr-iss); Latin
Definition: Unique.
Usage: That family's rattletrap station wagon — held together with duct tape — is sui generis.

What the Experts Say

"In French the adjective passé can still mean 'past it,' 'obsolete,' or 'no longer much good,' but exclusively in reference to melons. So if you talk about a person or a show as passé, it's either a delightful metaphor — in the sense of 'as overripe as a rotting melon' — or it's just a boo-boo."
— David Bellos, professor and chair of romance languages and literature at Princeton University

"People tend to misunderstand that the Latin words alumnus and alumni are male nouns. The female forms are alumna and alumnae."
— Mike Agnes, editor in chief of Webster's New World College Dictionary (Wiley, $23, www.amazon.com)

"Yo is not just a greeting from Sylvester Stallone; it is the first-person-singular subject pronoun for 'I' in Spanish."
— Kellye Church, Spanish lecturer at the University of North Texas