So, what about foreign language faux pas? Well, if you’ve ever learned a foreign language, which most of you reading this post have, you will likely have made at least one foreign language faux pas.Ī foreign language faux pas is when you accidentally use a word in your target language that sounds the same as your own language but differs in meaning completely.Īn example of this is the English word constipation (a condition in which there is difficulty in emptying the bowels) and the word constipação, the Portuguese word for the common cold. Here is a good list of cultural faux pas to avoid. It’s very similar in western culture to giving someone the middle finger or ‘ the bird‘. Very embarrassing indeed!Ī cultural faux pas might be giving someone in the Middle East the ‘ thumbs up‘ ( a gesture generally considered positive in western culture), particularly in countries like Iran, where it is considered one of the most offensive gesticulator insults you could offer. You will often find the the expression faux pas preceded by a classifying adjective or adjective phrase such as fashion, cultural, email or foreign language.Īn example of a fashion faux pas is a man wearing socks with sandals (a lovely look, every time, don’t you agree?).Īn email faux pas could be sending an intimate and very private email to your partner but cc-ing everybody on your contacts list.
However, if this is not possible, at least try to correct them calmly and politely so as not to cause further embarrassment to those who have witnessed the awkward situation. If you are witness to somebody else’s faux pas it is preferable to take them aside and correct them privately. They do, at times, use it figuratively, but to the French, a faux pas describes a physical loss of balance.įaux pas are generally committed out of ignorance, thoughtlessness or lack of tact rather than out of spite. In English, however, we use it to indicate a social blunder or mistake, as illustrated in the examples above.įrench speakers, by and large, use the word gaffe to describe a similar awkward social situation. In this, video British actress, Catherine Tate, plays a tactless woman who embarrasses herself and those around her when she mistakes a deaf man’s sign language with a game of charades.įaux pas is actually a French expression which literally means false step. If you’re still not sure, watch the amusing You Tube video below to get a good understanding of what a faux pas is.
Have you ever found yourself in a social situation saying or doing something that you realise, in hindsight, you should not have done or said? Perhaps, for example, you’ve congratulated someone for becoming pregnant, only to find out that they are not actually pregnant but have, in fact, recently put on a few extra kilos. So what exactly is a foreign language faux pas? Well, before we look at foreign language faux pas, lets first define faux pas (pron.: /ˌfoʊˈpɑː/ plural: faux pas /ˌfoʊˈpɑːz/).
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