You might not think this bears repeating, as the experience of deja vu is extremely common. In fact, I doubt I know anyone who hasn't experienced deja vu. But a refresher course on deja vu is necessary; people commonly misuse the term as a plain-old, easy, happy familiarity. It is fairly usual for someone to refer to deja vu when, for example, he meets someone at the same restaurant a second time.
Because I am notoriously better at explaining by example than by explaining the rules, I will give you a couple of anecdotes to clarify myself.
Correct use of deja vu:
I was really hungry, so I decided to run down to a nearby restaurant to grab some food. Though I'd never been to Casa de Pan, I had an eerie sensation of familiarity when I walked in the door. The hostess who greeted me had a face that I could have sworn I'd seen in the same place, and the restaurant's color schemes triggered a seemingly-forgotten memory of when I last ate here. However, I'd never been to Texas and I knew this couldn't have happened. It was just a case of deja vu!
Incorrect use of deja vu:
At the thought of meeting Josh for our third date, my heart was aflutter. We'd met randomly a few weeks ago while we were in line at Starbucks, and we struck up a conversation over the fact that we'd both brought our own cups and what a shame it was that more people didn't do the same. We decided it would be fun to meet up at Starbucks again, then maybe catch a movie. I arrived at Starbucks, and I saw that he was already inside. When I greeted him, I was so nervous that I stupidly blurted out, "Hey, it must be deja vu!"
Moral of the story
As you can see, the misuse of such a popular term is clearly a serious matter. But that is why I am here; even though it isn't possible, I still strive to achieve perfection in this crazy world of lingual and grammatical ineptness.
One more thing...was the movie "Deja Vu" really correctly using that term? I tend to think not.
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