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Jul 31, 2012
This week's themeWords that have the plural spelled the same but pronounced differently This week's words corps faux pas rendezvous pince-nez precis 
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A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Gargfaux pas
PRONUNCIATION:
(fo PAH)
plural faux pas (fo PAHZ)
MEANING:
noun: A blunder, especially a social mistake.
ETYMOLOGY:
From French, literally, false step. Earliest documented use: 1676.
USAGE:
"[Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, committed] the ultimate classroom
faux pas when he addressed [the teacher] Miss Hollender by her first
name, Sophie, in front of students." Fiona Hamilton; Boris Johnson Teaches Latin; The Times (London, UK); May 27, 2010. See more usage examples of faux pas in Vocabulary.com's dictionary. A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
In nothing does man, with his grand notions of heaven and charity, show forth his innate, low-bred, wild animalism more clearly than in his treatment of his brother beasts. From the shepherd with his lambs to the red-handed hunter, it is the same; no recognition of rights -- only murder in one form or another. -John Muir, naturalist, explorer, and writer (1838-1914)
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