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An expression which is ''meant'' to mean “of itself” or “intrinsically” — it comes from the {{tag|Latin}} ''[[per se]]'', which means “through himself”, after all — but in ordinary usage tends to mean “I am lying”, “I have no idea what I am talking about”, or “for your own sake, just ignore anything I have just said”.
{{a|latin|}}An expression which is ''meant'' to mean “of itself” or “intrinsically” — it comes from the {{tag|Latin}} ''[[per se]]'', which means “through himself”, after all — but in ordinary usage tends to mean “I am lying”, “I have no idea what I am talking about”, or “for your own sake, just ignore anything I have just said”.


Real life example, from the lips of a [[credit officer]]: “You see, I don’t see a [[Deposit|bank deposit]] as a [[Credit risk|credit exposure]], [[per se]]”.
Real life example, from the lips of a [[credit officer]]: “You see, I don’t see a [[Deposit|bank deposit]] as a [[Credit risk|credit exposure]], [[per se]]”.


For those of you who don’t know the intricacies of [[credit risk mitigation]], this is a bit like saying “I don’t see that a [[Ferae naturae|dog]] is a canine [[per se]]”.
For those of you who don’t know the intricacies of [[credit risk mitigation]], this is a bit like saying “I don’t see that a [[Ferae naturae|dog]] is a canine [[per se]]”.
{{plainenglish}}

Latest revision as of 13:08, 5 January 2021

The JC’s guide to pithy Latin adages


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An expression which is meant to mean “of itself” or “intrinsically” — it comes from the Latin per se, which means “through himself”, after all — but in ordinary usage tends to mean “I am lying”, “I have no idea what I am talking about”, or “for your own sake, just ignore anything I have just said”.

Real life example, from the lips of a credit officer: “You see, I don’t see a bank deposit as a credit exposure, per se”.

For those of you who don’t know the intricacies of credit risk mitigation, this is a bit like saying “I don’t see that a dog is a canine per se”.