A list of 42 words by uselessness.
- caveat emptor appears on 20 other lists
- ad hoc appears on 41 other lists
- de facto appears on 38 other lists
- carpe diem appears on 31 other lists
- et cetera appears on 20 other lists
- habeas corpus appears on 15 other lists
- non sequitur appears on 73 other lists
- ad nauseam appears on 27 other lists
- persona non grata appears on 23 other lists
- amicus curiae appears on 2 other lists
- per se appears on 21 other lists
- a priori appears on 58 other lists
- anno domini appears on 5 other lists
- ergo appears on 52 other lists
- ex post facto appears on 12 other lists
- in memoriam appears on 1 other list
- in vitro appears on 7 other lists
- opus dei appears on 1 other list
- vox populi appears on 23 other lists
- vice versa appears on 9 other lists
- quid pro quo appears on 42 other lists
- sic appears on 27 other lists
- status quo appears on 21 other lists
- nota bene appears on 17 other lists
- ad hominem appears on 42 other lists
- deus ex machina appears on 90 other lists
- tabula rasa appears on 40 other lists
- emeritus appears on 24 other lists
- cum laude appears on 5 other lists
- magnum opus appears on 27 other lists
- pro bono appears on 7 other lists
- in utero appears on 2 other lists
- in situ appears on 16 other lists
- modus operandi appears on 29 other lists
- post mortem appears on 6 other lists
- alma mater appears on 5 other lists
- alumnus appears on 4 other lists
- carte blanche appears on 35 other lists
- in toto appears on 7 other lists
- e pluribus unum appears on 6 other lists
- et alia appears on 1 other list
- en masse appears on 11 other lists
palooka Oops! Nice list uselessness. May 21, 2007
uselessness Yeah, I'll take that! I'll probably regret it (the fine line is actually very fine) but hey, it's my list. :-) May 21, 2007
reesetee Not my list, palooka! You can thank u for this jewel. :-) May 21, 2007
reesetee Ah. I think I understand. Basically you're looking for the Latin "sore thumbs," so to speak. So...would alumnus/alumni, etc. fit in? May 21, 2007
uselessness There's a fine line. Some words are quite obviously Latin, and though used commonly, their actual language is noted. Often you'll see them in italics to drive the point home. That's really what this list is for.
Consider French. We'll say bon appetit or je ne sais quoi, quite definitely French. But then along come words like croissant or rendezvous, and though we acknowledge their origin, they're now legitimate, dictionaritized English words. Though to be honest, this status is still pretty subjective. May 21, 2007
trivet I thought assimilation was the point. May 21, 2007
palooka Handy list reesetee! May 21, 2007
uselessness All great! I do wonder about alter ego, subpoena, placebo, and veto though... might they be considered standard English words at this point? I think they're fairly well assimilated. May 21, 2007
trivet in utero, placebo, in situ, veto, post mortem, modus operandi...
this is fun.
oooh! - and n.b./note bene May 21, 2007
reesetee Ad hominem, alter ego, deus ex machina, tabula rasa, emeritus, magnum opus, pro bono (actually short for "pro bono publico," I believe), sic, subpoena, cum laude....
Okay, I'll stop. :-) May 21, 2007
uselessness Hey, thanks for those! I know there are probably millions more but I'm drawing a blank at the moment. ;-) May 21, 2007
trivet Nice!
habeas corpus, non sequitur, ad nauseam, persona non grata? May 21, 2007