(Photo: Mohamed Nohassi/Unsplash | Text: David/ArtisanEnglish.jp)
YouTube / iTunes / Spotify / Radio Public / Pocket Casts / Google Podcasts / Breaker / Overcast
Listen to ArtisanEnglish.jp posts & lesson intros here.
WotD: Vice versa
Remember what I said on November 12th about Latin?
No?
Well, let me paraphrase for you.
If you want your English to be more sophisticated, you need to know some standard Latin terms.
Vice versa is another one of those that you should know.
It means that if one thing is true one way, it’s also true the opposite way.
Let’s take the saying, I scratch your back, you scratch mine, for example.
We could change it to read I scratch your back and vice versa.
It means I help you, and you help me, or you help me, and I help you.
Vice versa is often used to indicate that there is some reciprocal relationship going on.
You know, The United States of America doesn’t trust China and vice versa.
Hanshin Tigers fans are not fond of the Tokyo Giants, and vice versa.
The feelings are reciprocal.
To answer your question, no, vice versa, it is not frequently used in everyday conversation.
Now, after saying that, it also depends on to whom you are talking. (The word ‘whom’ is almost dead in the English language, by the way.)
Generally speaking, the higher a person’s education level, the more Latin terms they will be familiar with and vice versa.
By that, I mean if you meet a person who has a lot of Latin in their repertoire, it’s safe to assume they also have achieved a high level of education.
I’m not saying it’s always true.
Many blue-collar workers enjoy Shakespeare just as there are many educated people who choose to use the daily vernacular.
If you want an example, look at Donald Trump. He went to ‘some of the best schools,’ yet he probably thinks Latin is illegal and comes from Mexico.
Flesch-Kincaid Readability Test
This post is understandable by someone with at least a 7th-grade education (age 12).
On the Flesch-Kincaid reading-ease test, this post scores 73.
The easier a passage is to read, the higher the score on a scale of 0 – 100.