De rigeur

[probus]

As a bilingual resident of bilingual Canada I sometimes find it hard to be sure whether something French has been borrowed into English. I'd like to know whether our (especially our BrE) teachers consider "de rigeur" to be part of the English language.

 

[emsr2d2]

I do.

 

[Tdol]

It's widely used in BrE.

 

[teechar]

I agree with the above replies, but I still consider it a borrowed expression.

 

[Rover_KE]

I do.

So do I, but I spell it de rigueur.

 

[SoothingDave]

Yes, it's recognized in English, but I would italicize it to indicate it is foreign.

 

[Tarheel]

Yes, it's recognized in English, but I would italicize it to indicate it is foreign.

That's what's I was going to say. (Almost.) While it is used and understood by many people, it's still italicized.

(There are probably as many who don't know that word as do.)

 

[SoothingDave]

Yes. Like if you drop a "je ne sais quoi" into a conversation. Not everyone is going to get it. It can even be seen as effete.

 

[probus]

Yes. Like if you drop a "je ne sais quoi" into a conversation. Not everyone is going to get it. It can even be seen as effete.

That is precisely why I asked. People who pepper their conversation with foreign words belong in Private Eye"s Pseuds Corner.

 

[SoothingDave]

You have to know your audience. There are tons of words in English (foreign phrases or not) that educated, well-read people recognize while more common people do not. Not to sound classist, of course.

 

[probus]

You have to know your audience. There are tons of words in English (foreign phrases or not) that educated, well-read people recognize while more common people do not. Not to sound classist, of course.

Sure. I think everyone knows and understand thousands of words they would never use. Perhaps tens of thousands.

 

[Tarheel]

Absolutely right! A person's passive vocabulary tends to contain many more words than their active vocabulary. And if you don't hear a word very often you're not going to be confident that you understand it much less be able to use it conversation. (That doesn't stop some people.)

 

[emsr2d2]

So do I, but I spell it de rigueur.

I missed that. I spell it that way too.

 

[Tdol]

That is precisely why I asked. People who pepper their conversation with foreign words belong in Private Eye"s Pseuds Corner.

I don't think this particular phrase belongs there- I don't think most people who use it are trying to impress. I'd put it down with avant-garde as something widely used- I don't expect anyone who uses either to think I should be impressed by their cosmopolitan forays into French. I'm not, but I would say the same. Maybe I have become an old pseud.

 

[probus]

Thanks to all who replied. The change of spelling settles it for me. I shall consider "de rigeur" French and "de rigueur" English.

 

[emsr2d2]

I think you've misunderstood what we meant about the spelling. The correct French spelling is "de rigueur" and we use the same spelling in English. I simply missed the spelling error in post #1.

 

[probus]

Oops! Brain cramp. Thanks for the correction.