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30 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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bon mot |
a witty remark |
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carte blanche |
complete freedom to act as one wishes or thinks best |
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deus ex machina |
an unexpected power/event saving a seemingly hopeless situation |
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fait accompli |
a thing that has already happened or been decided on and cannot be changed |
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gauche |
adj. lacking ease or grace, unsophisticated and socially awkward |
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in flagrante delicto |
adj. in the act of wrongdoing, particularly sexual misconduct |
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junta |
a military/political group that rules a country by taking power w/ force |
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nouveau riche |
n or adj. people who've recently acquired wealth and are ostentatious ; pertaining to the characteristics of the nouveau riche |
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malaise |
a general feeling of discomfort; illness whose exact cause is difficult to identify |
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mensch |
a person of integrity and honor |
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piece de resistance |
the most important or remarkable feature (esp. with creative work) |
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raison d'etre |
most important reason and purpose of someone's life |
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tour de force |
n. impressive preformance or achievement that's been accomplished with great skill |
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savoir-faire |
n. ability to act/speak appropriately in social situations (social skills) |
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vox populi |
n. opinion or belief of the majority |
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ad nauseam |
referring to something that has been done or repeated so often that it has become annoying or tiresome. |
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ante bellum |
occurring or existing before a particular war, especially the American Civil War. |
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avant-garde |
new and unusual or experimental ideas, especially in the arts, or the people introducing them |
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bête noire |
a person or thing that one particularly dislikes |
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cause célèbre |
a controversial issue that attracts a great deal of public attention |
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coup de grace |
a final blow or shot given to kill a wounded person or animal |
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coup d’état |
a sudden, violent, and illegal seizure of power from a government |
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esprit de corps |
feelings of loyalty, enthusiasm, and devotion to a group among people who are members of the group |
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ersatz |
(of a product) made or used as a substitute, typically an inferior one, for something else |
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joie de vivre |
exuberant enjoyment of life |
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noblesse oblige |
the inferred responsibility of privileged people to act with generosity and nobility toward those less privileged |
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non sequitur |
a conclusion or statement that does not logically follow from the previous argument or statement |
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schadenfreude |
pleasure derived by someone from another person's misfortune |
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tête-à-tête |
a private conversation between two people |
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zeitgeist |
the defining spirit or mood of a particular period of history as shown by the ideas and beliefs of the time |
