You know how there are some words you just never quite absorb into your vocabulary? Like, it doesn't matter how many times I look up the definition of ontology, nonplussed, or deus ex machina, I just never quite internalize what they mean. In the case of ontology, I think this brain block is the result of a deep-seated dislike I have for all philosophy grad students. (Sorry.) Nonplussed I get confused about because there are two opposite definitions, and only one of them is correct, but I can never remember which one.
And then sometimes there are words I just never bothered to look up before. Auto-da-fé came up somewhere in my reading today, and did you know that it's Portuguese for "act of faith"? It's the name of a ritual from the Inquisition, where condemned heretics and apostates made public penance before execution. I had no idea.
What I want to know now is how the phrase made it into English. Is it really so specific an idea that we needed to import a Portuguese phrase from the 15th century? I guess it sort of is, actually. Auto-da-fé is a lot pithier than "a public penance of heretics and apostates." I will work really hard to drop this into casual conversation soon. If only I knew how to pronounce it!
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