Word of the Day for Wednesday, December 17, 2008
gaffe \gaf\, noun:
a blunder; faux pas
.
I have heard that the B.O. has set up a gaffe mitigation department just for his V.P.!
--Spy Maker, JSA's Blog
by 1909, from French gaffe "clumsy remark," originally "boat hook," from Old French gaffe, from Old Provencal gaf, probably from Gothic gafa "hook," but this origin is obscure. It may derive from British slang gaff "to cheat, trick" (1893) or gaff "criticism" (1896), from Scottish dialect sense of "loud, rude talk," which ultimately may be from Old English gaf-spr¾c "blasphemous or ribald speech."
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