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connect today's word to others:
As we've noted before, the French language has glutted our own with words for social awkwardness. See if you can recall these:
1. Gau____ie is behavior that is awkward, tactless, or crude.
2. French for "stupidity," a bê___eis a stupid mistake or a foolish comment.
3. French for "ill to the purpose," mal____os means "done in an awkward, unhelpful way."
We can add to that list the French-derived gaffe.
Gaffes are so fun to talk about, as long as they're not so bad that they give us fremdscham. I like to look back wistfully on President George W. Bush's best verbal gaffes:
"I hear there's rumors on the Internets that we're going to have a draft."
"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we."
"Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?"
That kind of bumbling, awkward misstatement, or any kind of bumbling, awkward mistake can be called a gaffe--a word I'm sure you're familiar with, but one that deserves some attention. So let's take a moment or two to enjoy its brevity, its gentle humor, and the weird fact that it looks like a short giraffe, which would definitely be a genetic gaffe.
(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)
make your point with...
"GAFFE"
This word comes from French, where it first meant "boat hook," then "awkward comment," in a shift in meaning that still leaves us scratching our heads.
In English, a gaffe is a dumb, clumsy mistake in a social situation. Specifically, gaffes are often dumb, clumsy comments.
Pronunciation:
GAFF
(rhymes with "laugh")
Part of speech:
Noun, the countable kind: "they keep making gaffes;" "her latest gaffe was hilarious."
Other forms:
Just the plural, "gaffes."
But check out this creative use of "gaffe" as a verb, from Tom Del Beccaro at Fox News: "He will gaffe himself to the finish lines."
How to use it:
More dignified than "boo-boo" and "whoopsie" and "goof," but gentler and less judgmental than "screw-up" and "faux pas," our word "gaffe" is perfect for labeling all kinds of social mistakes.
Talk about someone's gaffe(s), or talk about people making or committing gaffes, reporting or laughing over gaffes, regretting or apologizing for their gaffes, etc.
Add an adjective, if you want: a diplomatic gaffe, these day-to-day gaffes, my "Reply All" gaffe.
examples:
The interviewer thanked him for his service in the Navy, then realized her gaffe: he was looking puzzled, and she was looking at the wrong resume.
Explain the meaning of "gaffe" without saying "blunder" or "tactless remark."
try it out:
Fill in the blanks: "(Someone's) latest gaffe was _____."
Example: "Facebook's latest gaffe was storing hundreds of millions of user passwords in a place where employees could easily snatch them."
before you review, play:
Spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—let your working memory empty out first.
Tidbits and Titles!
I provide the tidbits; you provide the title.
From our previous issue:
Here's a quote from a book: "[He] was, indeed, a singular character. Of acute understanding, disinterested, honest, and honorable in all private transactions, amiable in society, and duly valuing virtue in private life, yet so bewitched and perverted by the British example, as to be under thorough conviction that corruption was essential to the government of a nation."
And here are some terms and phrases that often appear in that book: American, army, Congress, duel, feared, Jeffersonian, letter to Elizabeth, military, pamphlet, patriots, Philadelphia, slavery, society, wanted, young.
What's the book's title?
Answer: Alexander Hamilton (the biography that inspired the musical).
Try this today:
Here's a quote from a book: "Eating in the United States should no longer be a form of high-risk behavior."
And here are some terms and phrases that often appear in that book: advertising, Burger King, cattle, contaminated, fast food industry, feedlots, frozen, kids, McLibel, obesity, potatoes, slaughterhouse, Taco Bell, union
2. In a compilation video of Family Feud gaffes, players give _____ answers.
A. sarcastic
B. wildly inappropriate
C. creative and unexpected
Answers are below.
a final word:
Make Your Point is crafted with love and brought to you each weekday morning by Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.
To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.
Answers to review questions:
1. C
2. B
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Make Your Point is crafted with love and brought to you each weekday morning by Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.