Vis-à-vis

Posted by Bob on November 20, 2001

In Reply to: Vis-à-vis posted by R. Berg on November 20, 2001

: : : "Vis a vis" I think it's a French phrase. But I've heard Americans use it many times.

: : Literally French. "Face to face." That is, directly compared with.

: : But... in such widespread use in English-speaking countries, for so long... when is it no longer French? This phrase would be on the cusp of adoption. I suspect in 40 or 50 years, it will be English.

: It wasn't marked as foreign in Webster's Second Unabridged .
But the bigger tip-off might be the accent over the a. Still Frenchified. When the accent falls, it will have really taken root.

Vis-à-vis R. Berg 11/20/01