Improve your Vocabulary: Foreign Words in English

Are you an English guru? Well, then you must speak many languages because English uses words from all over the world. In this lesson, you'll be hit by a tsunami of new words like "kaput", "faux pas", and "prima donna". Though they may have started out in another language, these words have now become an accepted part of English vocabulary. English is always evolving, lending, and borrowing terms from other languages. Watch to learn more about this, and don't forget to do the quiz at the end at https://www.engvid.com/foreign-words-in-english/ ! I'm really gung ho about this one!

TRANSCRIPT

Hi. Welcome back to www.engvid.com. I'm Adam. In today's video we're going to learn non-English words. You're thinking surprised because this is an English video lesson, it's supposed to be about English, but in English we tend to borrow a lot of words from other languages. We keep them as they are, we even keep their meanings more or less, but we like to apply them to many areas. So there's a lot of words. These are just a... This is just a sample of the foreign words that we use regularly in English. Some of them have been changed to apply to other things besides the original meaning of the word. So... Excuse me.

First, let's start with the actual words: "tsunami", this is Japanese. "Gung ho" is Chinese. "Pro bono", Latin. "Quid pro quo", also Latin. "Prima donna", Italian. "Je ne sais qua", French. "D�j� vu", French. "Faux pas", French. "Du jour", French. "Kaput", German. And "guru" is actually Sanskrit. Okay. So, first I'm going to explain to you what the words mean, where they came from, and what they mean originally, and then how we use them in English.

So we'll start with "tsunami". "Tsunami" basically means harbour wave. So, in Japan after an earthquake, sometimes... They have a lot of earthquakes, but sometimes they get a tsunami. It's basically a big wave. So the ocean after the earthquake sends a big wave and it covers the land. There was a big one a few years ago, a lot of damage. But we use this, again, to mean the same thing. Whenever there's a tsunami, whenever there's a big wave after an earthquake, but we also use it to talk about anything that's large and sudden. So, for example, the whole world is facing a refuge situation now. A lot of people from... Moving from all parts of the world to other parts of the world, and the countries that are receiving these refuges, they are facing a tsunami of refuges. So it's like a big wave of people. Okay? So whenever you have a big, sudden, wave or whatever, a big, sudden situation or a big, sudden change coming at you, you can call... You can refer to it like a tsunami. Okay?

"Gung ho". So, "gung ho" basically means very enthusiastic. In Chinese it means basically part of a team or teamwork, but in... The way we use it in English, if we say: "That person is really gung ho", it means he's really enthusiastic, really eager, really wants to work hard. So, if I work at a company and a new employee comes in... And I've been at this company a long time, you know, I'm settled, everything, I do my work, I go home. But this guy comes in and he's so gung ho that everybody's a little bit worried because he's making us look bad. He's too gung ho. He's too energetic, too enthusiastic. It's a... So it's a very good word for that. Anytime you're ready to do something, you can do it gung ho or you can do it casual.

"Pro bono", basically this means free. So I'm going to actually write this because these are a little bit long to write. Free. If... So, you see a lot of doctors. A lot of doctors or lawyers when they start their business or when they're very successful and they can afford it, they do a lot of pro bono work. Means they'll go provide legal advice to somebody who can't afford it, or they'll do medical assistance to people who can't afford it. For example, they'll go around the world to poor countries and they'll help children especially with medical situations, etc. So anything... Anytime somebody does something for free, like but professional, like work and they do it for free, it's pro bono work.

"Quid pro quo", something for something. We also have an idiom: "If you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours." Okay? It means: You do something for me, I'll do something for you. But when we exchange favours... For example, if I do something, some professional work for you because I'm a lawyer, I will give you some legal advice; you're a designer, you will design my website. I don't pay you money, I pay you with legal service; you pay me with your design work. Quid pro quo. I do something for you, you do something for me. And this is also a very common expression.

Okay, so now we're going to move to the Italian: "prima donna". Now, "prima" means first, "donna" means lady, so it's the first lady.