There's a word I used to know, which I've forgotten, and it's driving me crazy trying to think of it. If anyone knows it, I'd be grateful if you would share.
Comments
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.
john
A friend and I used to have a game, collecting lists of words (this is in ye olde days; we used a notebook) that are used in English, but are obviously foreign, like de rigeur and coup d'etat (and, you know... that other word). And one of us discovered at one point, to our mutual delight, that there's a word for foreign imports like that. What is it?
Oct 2, 2007
Prolagus It doesn't exist, but xenologism would be great. Mar 27, 2008
sarra Wonderfully (by which I mean—self-referentially!), Gastwörte also describes these — German for "guest-words" (singular Gastwort). Or Fremdwort, or Lehnwort depending on exactly how they're used: this article from the Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language is enlightening, if to be believed.
calque is also brilliant: what happens when a foreign phrase is translated and used literally. Oct 3, 2007
sarra loanword? Oct 3, 2007
seanahan I feel like I've heard this one too, but it's on the tip of my tongue. Oct 3, 2007
reesetee Hmm...naturalized? Oct 2, 2007
john A friend and I used to have a game, collecting lists of words (this is in ye olde days; we used a notebook) that are used in English, but are obviously foreign, like de rigeur and coup d'etat (and, you know... that other word). And one of us discovered at one point, to our mutual delight, that there's a word for foreign imports like that. What is it? Oct 2, 2007