The Grammarian – Business Latin
Latin is still taught to millions of students around the world, and will continue to be for a very long time to come.
Fundamentally this is because:
- Latin is the main and most recent root language for many major world languages
- Latin has been the main language of scholarship and academia for centuries
Latin – just look at the world around you….
For a ‘dead’ language, the resilience of Latin is extraordinary. Indeed, its resilience would still be extraordinary were Latin a living language!
Here are just some of the common Latin words in everyday business use…you’ve probably used some of them for a long time without ever being sure exactly what they meant……so here’s your chance:
Ad hoc – ‘for this’: as in devised ‘just for this’ purpose
Ad nauseam – ‘to produce sea sickness’: as in very, very tedious!
Alibi – ‘elsewhere’: as in the accused person was elsewhere at the time of the crime
Alma mater – ‘nourishing mother’: or college where one ‘grew up’
Apex – ‘summit, crown’
Appendix – ‘supplement’
bona fide: in good faith.
caveat emptor: buyer beware.
curriculum vitae: the course of one’s life.
de facto: in reality, actually.
ergo: therefore, consequently.
i.e. (id est): it is
modus operandi: method of operating.
per annum: by the year.
per capita: by heads, for each person.
per se: by itself.
persona grata: a person that is acceptable or welcome.
persona non grata: a person that is unacceptable or unwelcome
prima facie: true, valid, or sufficient at first impression: apparent.
pro forma: as a formality, prepared in advance.
quid pro quo: something for something, an equal exchange.
quod erat demonstrandum (Q.E.D.): which was to be proved.
sine qua non: absolutely indispensable or essential.
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