??? also hieße der Satz "Ohne Mr. Smith zu nahe treten zu wollen, aber ich glaube, er ist ein Idiot!" sowas wie "Pace Mr Smith but I think he's an idiot!"??? Echt??? Gibt's dafür auch noch mehr Quellen?

I found this:

With the permission of; with deference to. Used to express polite or ironically polite disagreement: I have not, pace my detractors, entered into any secret negotiations.

here: http://www.bartleby.com/61/22/P0002200.html

I'd consider the term *very* old-fashioned, if not archaic, and would have to think twice before recognising its meaning (especially in the days where demonstrators against the US militarism in Iraq turned to the Spanish (?) 'pace' to avoid having to use the English 'peace')

I don't think [form.] is quite right either, since, even in formal circumstances, I'd consider the word misplaced, harking as it does to Victorian times...

as to the German: whether the definition offered by AHD agrees with the German offered above, I'll leave up to the natives.

Die deutsche Version passt gut auf die Bartleby-Definition.

@odondon: Zu pace - peace:
ETYMOLOGY:Latin pace, ablative of pax, peace. See pag- in Appendix I.
(aus dem Bartleby-Eintrag zu "pace") :-)

PRONUNCIATION: päch, -k, ps

Auch aus dem Bartleby-Eintrag. Die Symbole kommen nicht mit rüber, aber das "Sound recording" hört sich so an: dt. 'Patscheh, engl. 'putsheh, ital. 'pace.

Hier sei der relevante Teil des Eintrages aus "Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary" wiedergegeben: "Etymology: Latin, ablative of pac-, pax peace, permission -- more at PACT: contrary to the opinion of -- usually used as an expression of deference to someone's contrary opinion; usually italic "

Der Übersetzungsvorschlag "ohne ... zu nahe treten zu wollen" scheint mir plausibel. Die Präposition ist durchaus noch im akademischen Gebrauch (wenn auch sehr selten); vgl. z.B. Andrew R. Dyck, A Commentary on Cicero, De Officiis, Ann Arbor 1996, S. 484.

Zur Etymologie aus Merriam-Webster's (pax peace, permission) würde das deutsche etwas gestelzte "mit Verlaub" gut passen (es ist auch "old-fashioned"). Es wird gebraucht, um eine - wenn auch milde - Abgrenzung zur Haltung eines Anderen auszudrücken: "Mit Verlaub, Herr Müller, ich denke, da liegen Sie falsch."

Siehe auch: pace - ohne ... zu nahe treten zu wollen
Siehe auch: pace - #6 (#6)

There have been several similar threads, and if 'pace' isn't in the dictionary, it ought to be. In my experience it's still in perfectly common use in relatively formal writing.

But 'mit Verlaub' isn't a good choice for direct translation, because it's used in second-person address, whereas 'pace' is usually used in reference to a third person.

With due respect to (someone or their opinion), used to express politedisagreement or contradiction:narrative history, pace some theorists, is by no means dead

sorry, the system won't let me edit (copy & paste error). It should be polite disagreement.