The English we speak today has been very influenced by other languages – including the ancient languages of Latin and Greek. Many words trace their roots and meanings to these old vocabularies. In ancient Greek ‘hyena’ means ‘female pig’ and ‘hippopotamus’ is ‘river horse’. And we still use Latin phrases such as ‘ad hoc’ meaning ‘for this’ and ‘bona fide’ which translates to ‘good faith’.