Every once in a while, it feels good to add a snooty foreign word or phrase to your writing. I mean, what would the writing world be without a little je ne sais quoi? However, there are rules about how to treat these words and phrases on first reference, and that’s what today’s post is about. (After all, teaching language and style rules is Grammar Party’s modus operandi.)

Section 7.49 of the sixteenth edition of The Chicago Manual of Style states, “Italics are used for isolated words and phrases in a foreign language if they are likely to be unfamiliar to readers. If a foreign word becomes familiar through repeated use throughout a work, it need be italicized only on its first occurrence. If it appears only rarely, however, italics may be retained.”

The question is: How do you know if a foreign word or phrase will be unfamiliar to readers? Chicago has an answer for that, too. According to section 7.52, the test to find out if a word or phrase is likely to be unfamiliar to readers is to see if it is listed in Merriam-Webster.

If the foreign word or phrase is listed in Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, don’t italicize it. If it’s not listed, italicize it.

Here’s a starter list of foreign words and phrases that don’t need italics (because they are listed in Merriam-Webster):

I hope you enjoyed our quasi têt-à-têt. Remember, if you’d like more Grammar Party musings throughout your day, you can follow me on twitter at @GrammarParty.