A History professor once told me that the English language was superior for research and scientific papers due to its tendency to adopt foreign words. With this expansion in vocabulary we can be very precise in our descriptions which is required in academia. About 50% of English if derived from the original Germanic language English is derived from while the other 50% are adopted words from other languages.The following is a list of words, some of which I use myself to make sense of the world but unfortunately aren’t used by English speakers, but probably should.
Auctoritas (Latin): You’ve probably come across this word if you’ve read any biographies from Ancient Rome. It’s somehow referred to authority, but it is more expansive. It compiles how you carry yourself, if you have the “voice of command” while taking into consideration your past achievements. Wikipedia describes the word as such:
“In ancient Rome, Auctoritas referred to the general level of prestige a person had in Roman society, and, as a consequence, his clout, influence, and ability to rally support around his will. Auctoritas was not merely political, however; it had a numinous content and symbolized the mysterious “power of command” of heroic Roman figures.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auctoritas
Virtù (Italian): Also called “Machiavellis virtue” since it’s a word created and defined by Niccolo Machiavelli, author of the Prince and Discourses on Livy. The goal of Machiavelli was to have Italy not merely admire past works of art, but to begin imitating the past actions and thoughts of his “dear ancients” (he preferred the Romans over the Greeks). He invented the term “effectual truth” which required what we judge the merit of an action by the real world impact in a purely secular way instead of debating its merit in abstractions such as morality or theology. Virtù is the ability to have a positive impact in the real world judged through lenses of effectual truth. A man may be virtuous and good, but he may be mediocre, unskilled and a fool, therefore a hazard if put into positions of power. Virtù is amoral and judges the individual for their real world performance.
The word was also used by Nietzsche as the ideal who wished humanity to aim at:
“What is good? Whatever augments the feeling of power, the will to power, power itself, in man. What is evil? Whatever springs from weakness. What is happiness? The feeling that power increases that resistance is overcome. Not contentment, but more power; not peace at any price, but war; not virtue, but efficiency (virtue in the Renaissance sense, virtu , virtue free of moral acid).”
Wikipedia defines the word as follows:
“Virtù is a concept theorized by Niccolò Machiavelli, centered on the martial spirit and ability of a population or leader,[1] but also encompassing a broader collection of traits necessary for maintenance of the state and “the achievement of great things.””
Machiavelli explains in The Prince that the leadership of Italy has sinned, but these “sins” aren’t meant in the Christian sense, but come from weakness, stupidity, in other words, mediocrity:
“Thus it was that Charles, King of France, was allowed to seize Italy with chalk in hand; and he who told us that our sins were the cause of it told the truth, but they were not the sins he imagined, but those which I have related. And as they were the sins of princes, it is the princes who have also suffered the penalty.”
When we speak of an employee being a “good employee” we don’t necessarily mean him or her being a moral person, but in a purely Machiavellian way we are applying the effectual truth and seeing what are the real world secular results this employee is bringing us. Someone can be a “bad employee” and be morally flawless at the same time. Seems to me we can start being more precise in our speech.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virt%C3%B9
Ethos (Greek): This word should replace popular terms such as “corporate culture.” Culture is a key anthropological concept and encompasses a broader reach than particularities of different groups in the same society. Ethos is supposed to encapsulate predispositions of groups or individuals inside the same culture/society in terms of morality, character, behaviors, etc. Every American belongs to the same culture while belonging to multiple different Ethos. To say that a street can have two different businesses opposing each other and one can walk across the street and find a different culture because one corporations works in suits and ties and the other in shorts and saddles is an abuse of the word “culture.” These two businesses belong to the same culture but have a different ethos.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethos
Paideia (Greek): It somewhat meant general education but also came along with the cultivation of an upstanding citizen. It included grammar, philosophy, arithmetic, rhetoric, etc. The idea is that this education will make you a well rounded individual, which will make you a moral individual, which makes you a valuable citizen. The Greeks expressed that you could lose your materials belongings but no one could take away your Paideia. When I think of Paideia I ask myself if X individual is able to understand analytical or technical data, can they express their ideas in a coherent matter, can they understand the broader context of what we’re discussing, etc. For example: You might have a the marketing department with little to no understanding of finance and distribution unable to understand the technical data being presented by other departments which would limit their wild imaginations.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paideia
Arete (Greek): The word is similar to Machiavellis Virtù but has a more general use. Virtù is aimed at achieving real world results in politics, warfare, business. Arete could be achieved by a man or a woman living a quiet life and being a good spouse or parent. But it was used to describe to Homeric heroes also. After you read Homer and Machiavelli you can get a sense as to where they depart and unite. They both reflect excellence, but Virtù is focused on carrying out ventures that require competition and leadership. Arete may describe these, but it isn’t necessary.
Wikipedia defines the word as follows:
“Arete (Greek: ἀρετή), in its basic sense, means “excellence of any kind”.[1] The term may also mean “moral virtue”.[1] In its earliest appearance in Greek, this notion of excellence was ultimately bound up with the notion of the fulfillment of purpose or function: the act of living up to one’s full potential.
The term from Homeric times onwards is not gender specific. Homer applies the term of both the Greek and Trojan heroes as well as major female figures, such as Penelope, the wife of the Greek hero Odysseus. In the Homeric poems, Arete is frequently associated with bravery, but more often with effectiveness. The man or woman of Arete is a person of the highest effectiveness; they use all their faculties—strength, bravery and wit—to achieve real results. In the Homeric world, then, Arete involves all of the abilities and potentialities” available to humans.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arete_(moral_virtue)
Friktion (German): The word means “friction” but specifically the obstacles we’ll encounter when trying to carry out a venture. This was a key concept from Clausewitz on his book On War. Americans use the phrase “easier said than done” to encapsulate this idea. You often see people with grand plans and no idea of the difficulties that sometimes even the simplest of plans can elicit during execution.
Nebel des Krieges (German): Another Clausewitz concept that translates to “fog of war.” It basically means our known unknowns and unknown unknowns. It illustrates that by the nature of our world we will always have to operate based on incomplete or false information. We shouldn’t get paralyzed by the desire to just know a little more and based on our incomplete understanding simply carry on with the venture. Also keeping in mind that what we know may be wrong, and there are things we don’t know that we don’t know.
Wecheselwirkung (German): There’s no direct translation for this word, it sort of means mutually altering. For example: you have a plan to do X, and X will probably be a good idea if the environment stays the same. But your competitor sees the move you’ve just made and base on this move they change their behavior and your move that had been a good strategy if the competitor had not changed is now a bad option, and your competitor only changed as a reaction to your move, otherwise would have remained the same.
It encapsulates the new theories in management concerning Complex Systems and Complex Adaptive Systems rather well in a context of competition.
Kritik (German): It translated generally to “the eagle eyes.” The concepts refers to the ability to see the “great picture” and not fall into the concept of “not seeing the forest for the trees” as the Americans say. It’s the ability of being a generalist and seeing how different disciplines are affecting each other in the real world. Forbes had to write a while article titled The Secret Power of Generalists and Why They’ll Rule the World to describe the real world benefits of being a generalist, something this one word Kritik encapsulates.
Coup d’œil (French): It somewhat describes the book Blink by Malcolm Gladwell. It’s the ability to quickly glance at a situation and understand its complexities fairly quickly. It’s literal translation is “the stroke of the eye.” According to new studies this ability can be acquired in specific fields after years of work and training.
Clausewitz described the world as follows:
“When all is said and done, it really is the commander’s coup d’œil, his ability to see things simply, to identify the whole business of war completely with himself, that is the essence of good generalship. Only if the mind works in this comprehensive fashion can it achieve the freedom it needs to dominate events and not be dominated by them.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coup_d%27%C5%93il
Fingerspitzengefühl (German): The literal translation is “fingertip feel.” The meaning is similar to coup d’œil were you immediately understand a situation, but refers also to the ability to quickly act accordingly. In modern terms it is used as verbal tact in business. The Americans use the term “thinking on your feet” to describe the same phenomena.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fingerspitzengef%C3%BChl
Brückentag (German): Translates to”bridge day.” The term is used to describe days off from work in the year which are clever to use in between national holidays. Using these days appropriately gets you long weekends since there may be holidays in the middle of the week (like Wednesday or Thursday) and the weekend. Which means you are getting a 4 to 5 days off and an extended break by just using one or two days from your assigned days off.
Dunkelziffer (German): Translates to”dark number.” Often used to put statistics in context. It means that there are unreported cases which can only be guessed and therefore can’t appear in the statistics being portrayed. Example: Crime rate. The Dunkelziffer would be the crimes that the victims did not report to the police and therefore can’t appear in the crime statistic, making the statistics less reliable.
Many people view statistics as if they were concrete facts. Not so.
Scheinheilig (German): It means someone behaving like a saint or virtue signaling but in reality they’re an unethical person or wish you harm. The Americans would use the phrase “a wolf in sheep’s clothing.”
Schnapsidee (German): Originally meant to be “an idea you get while you’re drunk” which might sound wonderful at the time, but once you sober up you realize it’s a mistake. Even though the modern use refers more to simply a bad idea in general, it still implyies some fault in the ability to reason properly. Somewhat like the wrong methodology used to arise with the bad idea.
Schadenfreude (German): It refers to the happiness one feels from the misfortunes of others. While most English speakers will demonize this term as immoral and deny it in themselves, it’s a core concept it the theory of comedy. A common example: The person slipping on the pavement from stepping on a banana peel. We are laughing at this persons misfortune and pain.
Kummerspeck (German): I don’t necessarily think we should adopt this word but I find it interesting that it exists since its concept is very prevalent in modern American culture. it refers to a little bit of weight in periods of grief, such as breaking up with a boyfriend or girlfriend.