Friday, August 8, 2014

Frequently Misused and Misspelled Words and Phrases, part 90

Foo-pa vs. Faux pas
Wrong: Did you hear about her foo-pa at the gala last night?
Right: Did you hear about her faux pas at the gala last night?

Faux pas (pronounced FOH-pa) is a French term (literally “false step”) for an embarrassing social blunder or slip in manners, etiquette, or conduct. In the above example, it was the speaker who committed the faux pas.

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