English
faux pas
Faux pas comes from French faux pas ‘faux pas, blunder’.
- Frenchc. 1600–presentfaux pas‘faux pas, blunder’
- Englishearliest quotation 1777same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Frenchc. 1600–presentfaux pas‘faux pas, blunder’
- Englishearliest quotation 1777same form
Earliest quotation: 1777, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for Scandal: “Now my dear Lady Teazle if you but once…”
Every English word from French faux pas
Today it means
noun An embarrassing or tactless blunder.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / French faux pas / faux pas