HC
n.— «The sport’s governing bodies, the Union Cycliste International and USA Cycling, gave the seven-day stage race a ranking of 2.HC, putting it on a par with the Tour of California as the premier cycling events in the U.S. “HC” is an abbreviation of the French term “hors categorie,” or “beyond classification.” The ranking means that the race will offer more prize money, which should draw more top teams from around the world.» —“Sports Roundup” STLtoday (St. Louis, Missouri) Dec. 11, 2008. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
How and why do words from one language find their way into another? Vietnamese, for instance, includes lots of words borrowed or adapted from French. Such linguistic mixing often happens when languages brush up against each other and speakers reach...
How and why do words from one language find their way into another? Vietnamese, for instance, includes many words borrowed or adapted from French, a vestige of colonialism. For example, the Vietnamese word for “train station,” ga, comes...