Today's English lesson

From Wikipedia, at the request of MamaBear:

Per se

Per se is a Latin phrase used in English arguments. Originally it means in, of, or by itself, in its own right. If one is talking about something per se, he is ignoring all surrounding details or possible situations; it is just in consideration of the object by itself.

An example of common usage:

"It's not that singing 'happy birthday' is bad per se, it's just that you shouldn't have been singing it at the funeral."

It is commonly misspelled as "perse" and "per say."