LATIN: Did you learn Latin in school? So many of us didn’t, and we were surprised at the number of Latin terms co-opted into the English language.

Some, like “ad hoc,” we knew came from Latin, but others, like “alibi,” we did not.

We learned more from grammarcheck.net

The website had a list of 60 common Latin terms that everyone should know. We’ll share a few. Ad libitum, also known as ad lib, means “as you desire.” Most people are familiar with actors, like the late Robin Williams, who was known for his ad lib skills.

Ante bellum, two words in Latin or one in English, antebellum, means “before the war.” The war in question being the Civil War, with gorgeous antebellum mansions dotting the landscape of the American South.

Et alia, or as commonly abbreviated, et al., means “and others.”

Exempli gratia, commonly known by the abbreviation e.g., means “for example,” while Id est, abbreviated i.e., means “that is.” Sara’s children play team sports, e.g. basketball, volleyball and baseball. The new policy applies to all staff, i.e., full-time and part-time workers.

Another commonly abbreviated Latin term is modus operandi, or m.o. From the public’s love of crime shows, most know that refers to one’s method of operating, like the way a criminal behaves at a crime scene.

Ones that we use every day, a.m. and p.m., are Ante meridiem and Post meridiem. And P.S., post scriptum.

Some others from the list: bona fide, caveat emptor, circa, de facto, de jure, de novo, E pluribus unum, ergo, in absentia, in memoriam, in situ, in toto, in vitro, magnum opus, mea culpa.

Aren’t words fun? (Incidentally, the word “nerd” — a name which we’ve been called — is thought to have come from Dr. Seuss).