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Latin phrase, "in just so many words," that is, "in these very words," from demonstrative of Latin totus "whole, entire" (see total (adj.)) + ablative plural of verbum "word" (see verb).

in medias res

Latin, literally "in the midst of things," from medias, accusative fem. plural of medius "middle" (see medial (adj.)) + accusative plural of res "a thing" (see re). From Horace, in reference to narrative technique:

Semper ad eventum festinat, et in medias res,

Non secus ac notas auditorem rapit (etc.)

mother-in-law (n.)

late 14c., moder-in-laue, "mother of one's spouse," from mother (n.1) + in-law. Also in early use, "stepmother." In British slang c. 1884, mother-in-law was said to mean "a mixture of ales old and bitter."

father-in-law (n.)

late 14c., from father (n.) + in-law.

hole-in-the-wall (n.)

"small and unpretentious place," 1816, perhaps recalling the hole in the wall that was a public house name in England from at least 1690s. "Generally it is believed to refer to some snug corner, perhaps near the town walls," but the common story was that it referred to "the hole made in the wall of the debtors' or other prisons, through which the poor prisoners received the money, broken meat, or other donations of the charitably inclined" [Jacob Larwood and John Camden Hotten, "The History of Signboards: From the Earliest Times to the Present Day," 1867]. Mid-19c. it was the name of the private liquor bar attached to the U.S. Congress.

in loco parentis

legal Latin, 1640s in English, literally "in the place of a parent," from loco, ablative of locus "a place" (see locus (n.)) + parentis, genitive of parens "parent" (see parent (n.)).

in facie curiae

"before the court," legal Latin, from ablative of Latin facies "form, face" (see face (n.)). + genitive of curia "court" (see curia).

mens sana in corpore sano

c. 1600, Latin, literally "a sound mind in a sound body," a line found in Juvenal, "Satires," x.356.

Mens sana in corpore sano is a contradiction in terms, the fantasy of a Mr. Have-your-cake-and-eat-it. No sane man can afford to dispense with debilitating pleasures; no ascetic can be considered reliably sane. Hitler was the archetype of the abstemious man. When the other krauts saw him drink water in the Beer Hall they should have known he was not to be trusted. [A.J. Liebling, "Between Meals," 1962]

inwork (v.)

1680s, from in (adv.) + work (v.).

incomprehension (n.)

c. 1600, from in- (1) "not" + comprehension.

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