LdiJ
Senior Member
There is alias and alibi and veto and verbatim and status quo and audio and bona fide and in utero and in vitro and in memoriam and per capita and versus
Ah, but those are great examples of words that have been adopted by and become part of English. So when those are used by an English speaker, they are using English...just English that traces back to Latin roots. English borrows from a lot of different languages; English speakers seem to have little problem incorporating useful terms from other languages. We don't try to wall out foreign words to keep the language pure as some others, notably the French, do.
When I was in high school our school offered a class in Greek and Latin derivatives. I think that is about the most useful class I ever had. It seriously helped me learn Spanish, Italian, and French. It helps me read Portuguese even though I don't speak it. It even allows me to understand most Latin phrases. It also allowed me to see just how much English has Latin and Greek roots.
However, what really got to me, in Italy, was hearing everybody use the English word, "babysitter", instead of a word in Italian...LOL.
Last edited: