Everyone has a story to tell about an embarrassing moment when the wrong word spurts out, or something of the sort. An interesting word to describe that moment is contretemps, obviously a French word that has found its way into usage in the English language. Those difficult moments are a nightmare waiting to happen.
The other day, for instance, I was in a hospital room when the doctor walked in. The doctor asked if my name was Jed Waverly (actually the doctor used my real name, not my pen name.) I jumped to respond, and said, “Yes sir!” The doctor was stunned, but laughed off the moment as I was overcome with embarrassment. She had a better sense of humor than I did!
We could go on and on with these stories. Everyone has at least one.
I wonder what it is that makes us become embarrassed at those moments. Is it the fact that we have exposed our human frailty? Do we need to look perfect at all times? Does it expose our weakness?
Or, is it possible that faux pas are just normal for all human beings? You know the bumper sticker saying, “$%@& Happens!” It’s somewhat of a crude sentence, but the idea behind it is profound. Into everyone’s life comes at least one contretemps … an embarrassing moment. The test of our humanity is how we handle those moments.
If you are like me, you launch into an attempt to explain away the situation, usually making the matter worse. The better thing to do is to laugh along with those who have stumbled onto the embarrassing or difficult moment. It can then go away. But the attempt to explain it away just perpetuates the humor and makes it worse.
I was attending a meeting of an organization at one time in which a very dignified, highly-respected woman was introducing a new program into which we were entering. She concluded the presentation with the comment: I am convinced that if we all enter into this process with enthusiasm and a desire to see it through to success, we will have done something that will benefit the entire orgasm.”
There was silence for about 12 seconds, and then a snicker from one person ignited an explosion of laughter. Part of the humor was the fact that she was so dignified and proper. It was inconceivable that the word would emerge from her mouth.
She immediately recognized that she had used the wrong word and began a futile explanation of the fact that she had meant to say organism, not orgasm. Her fluttering just added fuel to the already raging fire. In a desperate attempt to end the event, she shouted out: “Honestly…I didn’t mean to say that. I don’t even know what the word means. Honestly, you can ask my husband.” Her contretemps moment was cemented into the minds of everyone there.
Word slippage is one thing, and can be excused easily. When the contretemps moment involves an awkward situation, however, it can be more difficult to dismiss it. You can conjure up in your own minds the ways in which a person can be caught in a moment that was never meant to be public. The papers have been full of them. Given the presence of 24/7 news reporting these days, it is almost impossible to avoid the awkward publicity that follows such an event.
The word contretemps is common and deserves a place in the American English lexicon. From my perspective, it is one of the more colorful words available to us. My hope is always that it will be a word related to someone else, not me.
Photo Credit: blush
