contretemps- word of the day

Word of the Day for Monday July 31, 2006

contretemps \KAHN-truh-tahn\, noun;plural contretemps \-tahnz\:An inopportune or embarrassing situation or event; a hitch.

Mrs. Post was the center of a notable contretemps when she spilled a spoonful of berries at a dinner of the Gourmet Society here in 1938.-- "Emily Post Is Dead Here at 86; Writer was Arbiter of Etiquette", New York Times, September 27, 1960

He looked worried, distressed, more distressed than one should look in the face of a slight contretemps.-- Anita Brookner, Undue Influence

Nathan was a fiercely ambitious and competitive man, as quick to take offenceas to give it in his business dealings, and it is not difficult to imagine him responding impetuously to such a contretemps.-- Niall Ferguson, The House of Rothschild

Contretemps comes from French, from contre, "against" (from Latin contra) + temps, "time" (from Latin tempus).