Whatever their status, however, given sufficient context, these expressions might be gainfully employed to provide a wry or sardonic touch to a written passage, or to characterize a pompous character:

1. En ami (“as a friend”): “I confide in you en ami.”

2. En arriere (“behind”): “Discretion is the better part of valor, I reminded myself as, letting my more valorous friends go before me, I marched en arriere.”

3. En attendant (“meanwhile”): “I entertained myself en attendant by thumbing through a magazine while she troweled on her makeup.”

4. En avant (“forward”): “En avant, comrades. Fortune awaits us through that door.”

5. En badinant (“in jest”): “Relax, my friend — I meant what I said en badinant.”

6. En bagatelle (“in contempt”): “He glared at me en bagatelle, as if I were vermin.”

7. En banc (“with complete judicial authority”): “I sentence you en banc, as judge, jury, and executioner, to death.”

8. En bloc (“in a mass”): “We can depend on them to vote en bloc in support of the proposal.”

9. En clair (“in clear language, as opposed to in code”): “The spy’s telegram was carelessly written en clair.”

10. En deshabille (“undressed, or revealed”): “She opened the door to find me standing there en deshabille, and immediately retreated.”

11. En echelon (“in steps, or overlapping”): “The flock of geese flew overhead en echelon.”

12. En effet (“in fact, indeed”): “You see that I am, en effet, in control of the situation.”

13. En famille (“with family, at home, informally”): “Let us now return to that happy household, where we find the denizens lounging en famille.”

14. En foule (“in a crowd”): “He had the remarkable ability to blend in en foule.”

15. En garcon (“as or like a bachelor”): “I have separated from my wife and am now living en garcon.”

16. En grande (“full size”): The bouncer approached and, with a scowl, reared up en grande.”

17. En grande tenue (“in formal attire”): “She arrived, as usual, en grande tenue, and in consternation that everyone else was dressed causally.”

18. En grande toilette (“in full dress”): “The opening-night crowd was attired en grande toilette.”

19. En guard (“on guard”): “She assumed a defensive position, as if en guard in a fencing match.”

20. En haute (“above”): “From my perspective — en haute, as it were — I’d say you are both wrong.”

21. En masse (“all together”): “The members of the basketball team arrived en masse at the party.”

22. En pantoufles (“in slippers, at ease, informally”): “He had just settled down for a relaxing evening en pantoufles when the
doorbell rang.”

23. En passant (“in passing”): “She nonchalantly mentioned the rumor en passant.”

24. En plein air (“in the open air”): “We celebrated by venturing en plein air.”

25. En plein jour (“in broad day”): “They boldly rendezvoused en plein jour.”

26. En poste (“in a diplomatic post”): “Though he was a friend, I decided to send the memorandum en poste.”

27. En prise (“exposed to capture”): “He found himself en prise, beset on all sides.”

28. En queue: (“after”): “I bided my time and followed en queue.”

29. En rapport (“in agreement or harmony”): “I’m delighted that we are all en rapport on the subject.”

30. En regle (“in order, in due form”): “I believe you will find the documents en regle.”

31. En retard (“late”): “Typically, they arrived en retard for dinner.”

32. En retraite (“in retreat or retirement”): “After uttering the verbal blunder, she ducked her head and exited the parlor en retraite.”

33. En revanche (“in return, in compensation”): “En revanche, I invite you to attend my upcoming soiree.”

34. En rigueur (“in force”): “We have arrived en rigueur to support you.”

35. En route (“on the way”): “En route to the post office, she passed by the derelict house.”

36. En secondes noces (“in a second marriage”): “The community was so conservative that she found her matrimonial state, en secondes noces, to be the topic of gossip.”

37. En suite (“connected, or in a set, as a bedroom with its own bathroom”): “She was pleased to see that the room was en suite.” (Also spelled ensuite.)

38. En tasse (“in a cup”): “I’ll take some en tasse.”

39. En tout (“in all”): “We’d like to use your banquet room, please — we are a score or more en tout.”

40. En verite (“in truth”): “En verite, I am the one
responsible.”

1. “All hands on deck,” from the traditional nautical command for every sailor to report for duty, refers to the necessity of everyone involved to lend a hand, or assist.

2. To bite the hand that feeds you is to be hostile to someone who has been kind to you.

3. To be a dab hand is, in British English, to be an expert.

4. “The devil makes work for idle hands” is a proverb that means that inactive people are susceptible to the temptation to do wrong.

5. To know something firsthand is to be directly familiar with the facts.

6. To force someone’s hand is to compel them to act prematurely or involuntarily.

7. Having a free hand is being given wide latitude about how to carry out a task or responsibility.

8. To gain the upper hand is to obtain control.

9. To get your hands dirty is to engage in a important activity that may not be pleasant.

10. To give a hand is to help, though it also refers to applauding by clapping one’s hands.

11. To give a guiding hand is to offer advice or mentorship.

12. Something that goes hand in hand with something else is closely associated with it.

13. To be in good, or safe, hands is to be assured that you will be taken care of.

14. To hand something down is to offer it to an heir, or to deliver a decision.

15. To hand in something is to deliver it.

16. To work hand in glove is to work together intimately.

17. To hand something off is to pass it along to someone else, with the connotation of delegating it.

18. To hand something on is to pass it along to someone else in succession.

19. To hand something out is to offer it to recipients.

20. To hand something over is to deliver it to someone in authority, perhaps reluctantly or unwillingly.

21. To earn money hand over fist is to do so quickly.

22. To hand something to somebody on a platter (often a silver one) is to enable them to achieve something without effort.

23. To hand something up is to present it to a higher authority, such as grand jury to a judge.

24. To win hands down is to do so conclusively.

25. To be hands-off is to distance oneself from an activity or project.

26. To be hands-on is to directly involve oneself in an activity or project.

27. To have blood on one’s hands is to be culpable for an act.

28. When you tell someone you have to hand it to them, you’re giving them a compliment.

29. To have your hands full is to be busy.

30. To act with a heavy hand is to do so harshly or with too much force.

31. A heavy-handed gesture or action is one that is lacking in subtlety.

32. When the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing, it means that communication among associates is poor.

33. To lend a hand is to assist.

34. To know something like the back of one’s hand is to know it thoroughly.

35. To live from hand to mouth is to be poor.

36. To be an old hand is to be familiar with or to be an expert at something.

37. To say that something is on hand is to indicate that it is available.

38. “On the other hand” is a synonym for however or “by contrast.”

39. To overplay your hand is to try too hard to achieve an objective, resulting in failure or complication.

40. Something that gets out of hand has gone out of control.

41. To play into someone’s hands is to be manipulated by an opponent into doing something advantageous to that person and detrimental to yourself.

42. “Put your hands up” is a command by law enforcement personnel directing someone to raise their hands so that they are in clear view and not likely to reach for a weapon.

43. To raise one’s hand is to lift an arm to indicate that one wishes to volunteer to perform a task or respond to a question.

44. A show of hands is a display of raised hands by those in a group in favor of or opposed to a proposal.

45. To take someone by the hand is to lead or nurture them.

46. To take the law into your own hands is to seek to right or avenge a wrong yourself rather than appeal to law enforcement for assistance.

47. To throw your hands up is to figuratively acknowledge defeat or frustration.

48. To be underhanded is to be deceitful.

49. To wash your hands of something is to absolve yourself of responsibility.

50. To say “When one hand washes the other” (the implied conclusion to the phrase is “and together they wash the face”) is to suggest that cooperation encourages success.

1. Absolute: The original sense of absolute is “ultimate,” but now it is weakly used as an intensifier (“It was an absolute riot!”). Minimize, too, usage in the connotations of “outright” and “unquestionable” and reserve it to mean “unrestrained” or “fundamental.”

2. Awesome: Originally, something awesome inspired awe. Now, the most mundane phenomena are exalted as such. Try devoting this word to truly spectacular sensations alone.

3. Fabulous: This adjective, derived from fable, once referred to sensory stimuli one might expect to encounter in a flight of fancy. It’s long since been appropriated to describe extravagant fashion sense or, more mundanely, notable accomplishments, but it is most potent when restricted to describing phantasmagorical phenomena.

4. Fantastic: Avoid using as a synonym for excellent; senses such as “unbelievable,” “enormous,” and “eccentric” are truer to the source.

5. Incredible: As with fantastic, usage of this word has strayed far from the original meaning of something that does not seem possible. Only if a story literally cannot be believed is it authentically incredible.

6. Magnificent: Something magnificent was originally grand or sumptuous, exalted or sublime, but the word has been diminished in impact by its exclamation in response to merely commendable achievements. Reserve usage to describe things of stunning impact.

7. Real: This term derives from the Latin term res, “thing, fact,” and should be used only to denote genuine, actual, extant, practical phenomena; minimize its use, and that of the adverb really, as a synonym for complete or completely.

8. Terrific: Terrific, originally referring to something terrifying, has long been rendered impotent by use as a synonym for great, but try to reserve it for such descriptions as “a terrific crash.”

9. Very: The most abused word on this list — and one of the most in the entire English language — comes from the Latin word for “true.” Consider restraining yourself from using it in writing except to convey verity, precision, and other adjectival connotations, rather than the adverbial sense of “exceedingly.”

10. Wonderful: Use when a sense of wonder is involved, or at least when there’s an element of surprise, not just to suggestion a reaction of delight.

1. Ace (ultimately derived from the Latin word as, “one,” “unit”): Originally, a combat pilot with at least five (later, ten) confirmed kills, or enemy planes shot down, and by extension a highly skilled person. The slang designation stems from the most valuable card in a deck and far predates powered flight; it was used to denote excellence, and eventually “top of the deck” athletes were so designated. The term is still employed in sports, as in gaining a point on a serve in tennis or hitting a hole in one in golf, as well as in the scholastic sense of performing well in a course or on a test.

2. Adept (from the Latin word adeptus, “having reached, attained”): Usually has the connotation of a mystical or secret pursuit or body of knowledge; this sense stems from the use of the term in Middle English to refer to an alchemist, and the term is widely used in heroic-fantasy literature featuring wizards and sorcerers and in writing about mysticism, though it is appropriate for general usage.

3-4. Artist (ultimately from the Latin word ars): Originally referred solely to a practitioner of art, but now often applied to someone who demonstrates skill with an artistic flourish in any pursuit. The French form, artiste, is used only facetiously or by or in reference to the pretentious.

5. Authority (from the Latin word auctoritatem, “advice, opinion”): Connotes the go-to source for, well, authoritative information or advice, or the governing agency or institution for a body of knowledge. As you may have guessed, the Latin term from which this word derives is also the source of author.

6-7. Connoisseur (from the Latin word cognoscere, “to know”): Usually employed in gustatory or artistic contexts, identifying someone with a refined taste in wine, for example, or a specific school of painting. The term, which comes to English from French, has an Italian cognate, cognoscente, which, when borrowed into English, has the same sense or that of “one in the know.” (The plural is cognoscenti.)

8-9. Doyen (from the Middle French word meaning “leader of ten,” stemming from the Latin term decanus, and ultimately from the Greek term dekanos, both with the same meaning): Carries a connotation similar to that of connoisseur or maven, of a person with knowledge about or skill in a rarified topic or area. Dean, sometimes used to denote an expert in or master of a specific field as well as in its academic sense, derives from doyen.

10. Guru (from the Hindi word for “teacher” or “priest,” from the Sanskrit term guru-s): Originally denoted a spiritual mentor, but the meaning was later extended to a secular sense and then generally to an expert.

11. Hotshot: Originally referred to a headstrong person or a headlong object; it now is usually employed in the sarcastically derogatory sense of someone who considers themselves more knowledgeable or capable than they are.

12. Initiate (from the Latin word initium, “beginning”): Originally, this word identified one who had undergone or was about to undergo an initiation ceremony, but now it is also a designation for one privy to certain knowledge or skills.

13-14. Maestro (from the Italian word for “master,” ultimately from the Latin term magister): A term for a gifted composer, later extended to orchestra conductors and now sometimes used facetiously to refer to those with pretensions of genius. The English form master denotes both an academic leader (hence “master of arts” and so on) and one who is eminent in any given field of endeavor.

15. Maven (from the Yiddish word, meyvn, “one who understands,” ultimately from the Hebrew term mebhin): Generally used in the sense of someone with expertise in a sophisticated area of study or skill.

16. Pundit (from the Hindi payndita, “learned man,” ultimately from Sanskrit payndita-s): Usually employed to refer to commentators, analysts, or consultants, often with a negative sense because of the widespread realization that one can find “experts” who will support or attack any position one favors or opposes.

17. Scholar (from the Latin word schola, “school,” ultimately from the Greek term skhole): Originally, referred to a student, but now, except in formal or jocular contexts, denotes an academician.

18. Virtuoso (from the noun form of the Italian word meaning “skilled, learned,” from the Latin term virtuosus, “virtuous”): Originally applied to highly talented musicians, but now appropriated in many other contexts to refer to manual or mental dexterity.

19-20. Wizard (from Middle English wys, “wise,” and -ard, “one who [is]”): The supposedly traditional connotation, that of a person with magical powers, supplanted the original meaning of “wise man,” and the modern sense, outside of fantasy-literature and computer-gaming circles, is of someone astonishingly good at a certain endeavor. Whiz is either a short form of wizard or a variant of the onomatopoeic whizz, “humming, hissing sound or movement.”

1. Bobo: Someone with conflicting bourgeois and bohemian tastes; the word is a partial abbreviation of those two descriptors. The offspring (or modern equivalent) of yuppies, bobos favor liberal and progressive causes but are also conspicuous consumers thought of as having bad taste and banal interests. Pejorative.

2. Boomer: A person born during the post-World War II baby boom (roughly 1946-1964), a period in which, due in part to postwar prosperity, the US birthrate increased dramatically. The connotation is of a sociopolitically influential demographic growing up during a period of rapid and volatile social change. It also implies, at this point, a significant proportion of the US population becoming elderly and, because of boomers’ concerns and values, having a dramatic impact on issues of employment, retirement and retirement benefits, and health and welfare. Neutral.

3. Clerisy: Intellectuals as a class. From the German word Klerisei (“clergy”), derived from the Latin term clericus (“cleric”); at one time, literate people were for the most part confined to the clergy. Neutral, but obscure.

4. Demimonde: Originally, mistresses and prostitutes as a class, whose only attachment to respectable society is their benefactors and clients; the term, French for “half-world,” now has a broader sense of a social group segregated from society as a whole. Euphemism.

5. Hipster: An affectedly unaffected person, characterized by a self-conscious appearance and ostentatious about following cutting-edge social and technological trends. Derogatory.

6. Homeboy: A close friend, or a fellow gang member; originally applied to someone from one’s hometown. The term and its diminutive, variably spelled homey and homie, derived from usage by black and Latino twentieth-century urban migrants who associated with others who had come from the same city or town. Generally neutral, but also can be negative, because of racial associations.

7. Intelligentsia: Intellectuals as an elite subculture. From the Russian intelligentsiya, based on the Latin word for “intelligent.” Neutral, but dated.

8. Literati: Intellectuals, or those interested in the arts. The word, with a slight spelling change, is directly from Latin. Neutral.

9. Philistine: A materialistic, anti-intellectual person. The name (generally styled lowercased) stems from that of a tribe referred to in the Bible as being hostile to the Israelites, and therefore, by extension, inimical to culture. Derogatory, but also usually somewhat facetious.

10. Yuppie: A materialistic, social-climbing white-collar worker, socially liberal but economically conservative. This term, a diminutive of the acronym for “young, urban professional,” originated in the economic boom of the 1980s but faded with the downturn of financial fortunes later in the decade, though the stereotype, and those who inspired it, are still extant. Pejorative.