28 December 2012

gaffe

[gaf]

noun

– a social blunder; faux pas, a tactless remark.

Origin:
1905–10; < French: blunder, probably special use of gaffe gaff1

Can be confused: gaff (an iron hook)

Example:

Japanese wasn’t her first language, so she didn’t realise the gaffe she made in her welcoming speech to the delegation from Tokyo.

Today’s aphorism

‘Sometimes people don’t want to hear the truth because they don’t want their illusions destroyed’.

– Friedrich Nietzsche

On this day

28 December 1945 – the United States Congress officially recognises the pledge of allegiance to the flag, which states, ‘I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all’.

28 December 1981 – the world’s first test-tube baby is born after being conceived in a lab dish. Her name is Elizabeth Jordan Carr and she weighed 5lb 12oz.