WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM - Grammar Minute: Chocolate Books and the Dangers of Foreign Words

Episode Date: January 23, 2025

It's not a good idea to use foreign words in your writing ... unless you're certain everyone knows what they mean. Learn more on today's episode of Grammar Minute!

Welcome to the Grammar Minute, where we're saving the English language 60 seconds out of time. I'm Lauren Smith, and I recently saw a book described as a non-parais. This puzzled me because, for one thing, the book was in English, so why use a French word to describe it? Secondly, the English meaning of the term non-parais is usually candy. Yep, you heard that right. A non-paray is a small chocolate candy covered in sprinkles. Translated from French, it does actually mean, unrivaled or matchless, which I think is what the writer meant. The only problem is that

almost nobody knows that. To borrow some common advice from Strunken White's elements of style, just avoid foreign words in your writing. It makes you sound pretentious and it clouds the meaning unnecessarily for your reader. And if you're not careful, you might end up accidentally calling a book a food. That's your Grammar Minute. Visit thegrammerminant.com for more tips and tricks.