What is the correct usage of “vis-à-vis”?

Question

I hear people use the term vis-à-vis all the time in place of what I believe should more correctly be for example or that is.

What is the most generally accepted correct and appropriate use of vis-à-vis, and what are its origins?

Answer 1

According to The Phrase Finder, the term is French and literally meant face-to-face. When the English picked it up in the 18th century, they started using it to describe a type of horse-drawn carriage wherein there are two seats, allowing occupants to sit across from one another in a face-to-face fashion.

Usage eventually extended to include the alternate meaning of with regard to, and in modern-day discourse it is accepted to use with regard to and vis-à-vis interchangeably. In fact, many people will get confused when you use it to convey its original meaning since the alternate meaning has overshadowed it.

Answer 2

As a complement to the other answers, as to the origins, here are the ways the phrase is used in French, which maybe helpful to gain a better insight of the various usages in English.

In French, 'vis-à-vis' can be used as a preposition, an adverb or a noun.

Preposition.

Facing, in the presence of:

She sat on the other side of the table, vis-à-vis John.

(archaic, regional Canada) Compared to :

He found it shameful to lose his temper vis-à-vis the old man.

Relative to, figuratively:

Jack swore me to secrecy, even vis-à-vis his daughter

Adverb

To be facing:

If the windows are vis-à-vis, the ventilation is improved

Phrasal adverb, qualifier:

Leaning against the door jamb vis-à-vis, dressed in a grass skirt, she...

Noun

Person facing someone else:

By chance, my eyes fell on Edwin, my vis-à-vis

The opposite facade:

The windows had curtains, so there was no vis-à-vis, only the blank wall

To be facing:

She was vis-à-vis her husband, a pretty little thing she was too, ...

To be facing, reflexively:

The café and the church were vis-à-vis

Adverb

To move into a facing position:

They sat down vis-à-vis, each in his corner, ..

(rare) To be facing (in English this renders no differently to the above) :

They were seated on chairs, (en) vis-à-vis the altar

Carriage with two facing seats:

I could see myself arriving at midnight, in my olive vis-à-vis, at the Opera gate.

Small sofa, where two people can talk conveniently:

The two women sat down on the vis-à-vis and nattered endlessly

(adapted from cntrl.fr)

Answer 3

IMO, these days the expression vis-à-vis is often used in sentences where a comparison is being made.

Examples:

1. Let's say I am enumerating features of iPhone.I could then say, The choice for applications is certainly much higher in the iPhone OS (125,000 vis-à-vis 20,000 for the Android) (example extracted from internet)

2. Canadian dollar vis-à-vis selected currencies (when talking about exchange rates perhaps?)

3. (Example title of a research paper as extracted from the internet): Comparative Competitive Aspects of Japanese Use of Human Resources vis-à-vis United States and Canada

---- and so forth. It is mostly used to paint a picture of something "pitted against" or "in the face of" or "as opposed to" something else.

Hope this helps.

Answer 4

When I hear/see people use it, I usually find they are using it to mean "as opposed to". I guess the face-to-face metaphor can mean the opposing opinion. Whether or not that is correct usage is slightly arbitrary, just my observation of how people seem to use it.

Answer 5

Accepted English usage in the military and in corporate meetings I have personally been a part of are "in relation to" or "concerning". They can be used to refer to a geographic location, opinions, or two or more items.