Words From Other Languages — Set 1: In Context flashcards
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Fill the blank: 25 of the Set 1 words, each in a new sentence from conversation, news, food, travel, work and school, with clues that point to one word (where a second also fits, the back says so).
Learn deck · part of Words From Other Languages · written against: 200 loanwords English still feels as borrowed; American pronunciation, etymologies per Merriam-Webster; our own selection. Updated 2026-10-10.
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Written overnight on deadline, the reporter's account of the bridge collapse was so clear and exact that rival editors pinned it to their walls as a ______, though she names a later book as her life's best work.tour de forceFrench
A brilliant single piece that shows off skill is a tour de force. Not her magnum opus: she names a later book as the greatest work of her career. -
Mocked by a rival school's fans for their homemade banners, the debate team only argued more sharply; years of guarding the team's good name had built real ______.esprit de corpsFrench
Pride and loyalty in defense of the group's good name is esprit de corps. Gemütlichkeit is the easy warmth that makes a gathering welcoming, not pride in a group. -
Nearly everyone on the island lives along the coast; the dry ______ beyond the first ridge holds only ranches, one mining town and a weather station.hinterlandGerman & Dutch
The land that stretches back from a coast, away from the shore, is its hinterland. Boondocks is plural (it would take "hold") and informal, and it means remote country far from towns, with no tie to a coast. -
Pushed by dry winds, the grass fire leaped the interstate, and by midnight the ______ had forced three towns to evacuate.infernoItalian & Spanish
A huge, fierce fire is an inferno. A sauna is hot too, but it is a room for bathing, not a spreading fire. -
Only a month into the job, the new line cook demanded the best stove, refused to scrub pots and argued whenever the head chef corrected him: a true ______.prima donnaItalian & Spanish
A vain person who demands special treatment is a prima donna. A kvetch grumbles about small things, but this cook demands the best for himself, and a high-muck-a-muck holds a high position, while he is the newest hire. -
When our cousin in Tel Aviv answers the family video call, she waves and says "______!" in Hebrew before asking about everyone's week.shalomYiddish & Hebrew
The Hebrew greeting used in Israel is shalom. Salaam also means peace, but it is the Arabic word, a greeting especially among Muslims. -
Readers soon noticed that the novel's sharp-tongued detective, a former teacher like the author, was her ______: braver, ruder and freer than she ever let herself be.alter egoLatin & Greek
A second self through which someone lives out another side of themselves is an alter ego. A nom de plume is only a name to publish under, not a character. -
Philippa spent years driving elderly neighbors to their doctor's appointments, so when she won a new car in a raffle, the whole street agreed it was good ______.karmaAsian Languages
Good fortune seen as earned by past kindness is good karma. Kismet is fate that seems meant to be, with no deeds earning it. -
In Brunei, a small Muslim nation on the island of Borneo, a ______ reigns as monarch, a title handed down within one royal family.sultanMiddle Eastern Languages
A monarch who holds supreme power in a Muslim land is a sultan. A sheikh is an Arab chief or ruler, and Brunei is a Malay country, not an Arab one. -
Out of respect, many Aboriginal Australian communities treat saying a recently deceased person's name as ______ for a time, a custom many broadcasters honor with warnings.tabooOther Languages
A ban rooted in custom and respect is a taboo. Verboten, plain 'not allowed', fits as well, though taboo is the word for a ban that custom itself lays down.
Also right: verboten
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About these cards
Review status: Second-reader reviewed, with corrections applied.
Checked against:
- Senses and parts of speech checked against Merriam-Webster.com, the American Heritage Dictionary, Random House and Collins (via Dictionary.com) and the Oxford Learner's, Longman and Cambridge learner's dictionaries; all definitions, notes and example sentences are original.
- Facts checked against the Constitution of Brunei Darussalam (Constitute Project text), UNESCO's World Heritage Centre, a Texas Tech University archive, Scientific Reports (2024), the Deccan Herald and SBS NITV, consulted as references; no text copied.
- Word selection is our own, from general-reader news, textbooks and frequency data (wordfreq, CC BY-SA 4.0); no publisher's list is reproduced.
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