Meaning and Spelling of a specific term

[Janet Barbour]

I was watching an episode of NCIS, and the medical examiner used a term I am unfamiliar with. Could you help with the spelling and meaning. I'm sorry, I can only type it phonetically, as I recall..."of a certain jenee say qua..."     Thanks for any help you can offer!  JB

[stu harris]

This is a VERY well-known expression, adopted into the English language and known by many people who know no actual French.

It's "Je ne sais quoi" and its literal meaning is I don't know what. I would translate it, if I had to, as A certain indefinable something.

 

[Janet Barbour]

Merci beaucoup!

[Anna Rose]

"je ne sais quoi"  is a fairly common phrase used in english, literally it means "I don't know what", and it basically is used to say "it has a certain characteristic I can;t name, but makes it unique/special/noteworthy". hope that helps, and you can google the correct spelling for a better understanding of the term. ^_^

 

oops, didnt notice someone had already replied, lol! oh well