This stumped me. What does "pace" mean in this passage in a newpaper editorial?

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Newsweek editor Michael Hirsh inveighs against America the "uberpower," whose vast might has been for the Bush team "almost like a narcotic to an addict." To be sure, humility has never come easily to those who guide the fortunes of the world's sole superpower, pace Madeleine Albright's "indispensible nation" boast.

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Originally posted by shufitz:
This stumped me. What does "pace" mean in this passage in a newpaper editorial?

quote:

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Newsweek editor Michael Hirsh inveighs against America the "uberpower," whose vast might has been for the Bush team "almost like a narcotic to an addict." To be sure, humility has never come easily to those who guide the fortunes of the world's sole superpower, __pace__ Madeleine Albright's "indispensible nation" boast.

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quote:

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pace (Latin) prep. with due deference to: used to acknowledge politely someone who disagrees with the writer.

Collins English Dictionary

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I had to look it up to check though.

Why should I let the toad work
Squat on my life ?
Can't I use my wit as a pitchfork
And drive the brute off ?
Read all about my travels around the world here.
Read even more of my travel writing and poems on my weblog.

The AHD says, "With the permission of; with deference to. Used to express polite or ironically polite disagreement: I have not, pace my detractors, entered into any secret negotiations." It is really a unique expression, I suppose (I like the "ironically polite disagreement" part).

Yet, I think it is confusing when a word has a very common definition, and then a rather obscure one. If Bob didn't know what was meant, not many people would!

I received this note from my logophile friend who loves our site, but just won't post. It is an excellent discussion of when to use it & how and how it is pronounced:

"Kenneth G. Wilson (1923–). The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. 1993.

pace (prep.)


meaning 'peace to,' and hence 'with deference to,' 'with the permission of,' 'with due respect or regard for,' or 'contrary to the opinion of,' is a Latin tag that can be an economical way to oppose or contradict politely, with an apology in advance: I think, pace my opponent, that we must act now. But it is an intellectual’s term (pronounced either PAI-see, PAH-kai, or PAH-chai): make certain that your audience will understand it and won’t think it pretentious; otherwise, use English. In writing you must italicize it to help avoid confusion with the English word pace. See FOREIGN PHRASES. 1

I found it by searching for 'Latin pace apology'"

some folks say avoidance of foreign words and phrases should be de rigueur

I've never heard the word used or pronounced that way before. Of course, that's because it's Latin. Read what M-W says about pace (click on "pace[3,preposition]").

There are other foreign words that are either pronounced or spelled like an English word. Examples: Japanese hai (yes) is pronounced like the English high; Japanese yujin (friend) = (is pronounced like) Eugene. Any more?

Tinman

[This message was edited by tinman on Fri Dec 19th, 2003 at 18:57.]

A monolingual Mexican listening to one side of an English speaker's conversation, hearing repeatedly "I see," and "I know," understands "¡Ay, sí!" and "¡Ay, no!" and wonders why the gringo can't make up his mind.