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Today it means

faux pas

an embarrassing or tactless social mistake

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Where does the word "faux pas" come from? It comes from French faux pas, and was adopted directly into English (1670s).

Read the full story

Where does the word "faux pas" come from? It comes from French faux pas, and was adopted directly into English (1670s).

Faux pas’s story begins in French: faux pas meant “a false step.” Literally a false step, a misstep. It reached English by 1670s as faux pas. French 'false step'. Today, faux pas means an embarrassing or tactless social mistake.

  1. Stage 1 · French · 1600s faux pas "a false step", literally a false step, a misstep.
  2. Stage 2 · English · 1670s faux pas "an embarrassing social mistake", French 'false step'.

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