> > > Also, to give this post a better raison d'etre (that's "raisin to eat" for all you French-challenged folks out there)
> >
> > What has this to do with the rest of your post? I expected you starting to talk french!
>
> The parenthetical was just a throwaway gag (well, I shouldn't say "just" -- I cracked up), but "raison d'etre," French though it may be, is actually a commonly used expression in *English*, which means, literally "reason for being" and refers to the justification of the existence of something. English actually has quite a few French expressions (and a few from other languages, but mostly just French) that are commonly used in English.
>
> My guess is that your confusion, not being a native English speaker, is based on Issachar's use of "raison d'etre" in the main text of his post, not the parenthesized comment,...
>

I hadn't even considered that loan-words might not be such a common occurrence in Jommeke's experience. Sorry, Jommeke -- you even asked me about it and I replied with a flippant answer. Mea culpa. (oops, did it again!) Seriously, though, Sam's explanation is on target.

> ... which is why I'm explaining this -- pardon me if I'm mistaken.
>

S.A.M. is never mistaken, of course.

> So does this kind of thing happen in your language? Do foreign words or expressions get adopted by the language unchanged, as happens in English from time to time? It's an interesting phenomenon, actually.
>

I'd be interested to hear about this, too.

Iss "heritage-lacking mongrel though I may be" achar