15 Foreign Words and Phrases People Spell Incorrectly

by Mark Nichol

Here are some problematic frequently misspelled words and phrases of foreign extraction: 1. A capella: The Italian phrase, literally in chapel style but meaning without instrumental accompaniment, is two words. 2. Apropos: The French phrase for to the purpose, and meaning with regard to or opportune or timely, is treated as two words in the original language but as one in English. Its sometimes erroneously split into two in English, which is not appropriate. 3. Capisce: This formal Italian term meaning understand is employed in English as a slang interrogative equivalent to You know what I mean? (Notice that capisci is also correct, as its the equivalent of capisce in the second person). 4. Chaise longue: This phrase, literally long chair in French, is often mispronounced chase lounge (the correct French pronunciation is shez long, though the vowel sound in the first word is in English closer to shayz) and, by association, the second word is sometimes misspelled like lounge. 5. Coffee klatch: This half-translation of the German word Kaffeeklatsch (coffee gossip) is an open compound (or, in a variant, more faithful spelling, a hyphenated compound: coffee-klatsch). 6. De rigueur: This French word for proper, adopted into English, is (like liqueur) properly spelled with two us. 7. En masse: This French phrase for as one is one of several adopted into English as is. 8. Flak: This German acronym derived from Fliegerabwehrkanonen, or antiaircraft guns, and, by extension, the shells fired from them, and used in English to refer to criticism or opposition has so often been misspelled flack that this second spelling is now an accepted variant, though the direct borrowing is preferred. 9. Hors doeuvres: The jumble of vowels following the article d in this direct borrowing from the French phrase meaning apart from the main work stymies many writers. 10. Laissez-faire: This direct translation of the French phrase translated roughly as let do and referring to minimal government interference in economic or other affairs is always hyphenated, even when used as a noun. 11. Mano a mano: This Spanish phrase for hand to hand refers, in English as well, to two people going up against each other in competition or conflict. 12. Oeuvre: The French term for work, most often used in the sense of the sum total of an artists output, consists of a bewildering sequence of letters. 13. Per se: People unfamiliar with the origin of this phrase (its borrowed directly from the Latin phrase meaning in itself) sometimes misspell it per say (perhaps as if to write as said). 14. Segue: Confusion with the name of the vehicle called the Segway may be responsible for the occasional misspelling of this word to resemble the brand name, though that error may just be the result of a phonetic attempt to produce the borrowed French term meaning to make a close or smooth transition. 15. Tchotchke: This improbably spelled alteration of a Yiddish word meaning trinket is a spelling bee competitors nightmare.