Gaffe

Wise Words: gaffe

I once made a terrible gaffe. I hadn’t seen a colleague for a while and I asked him how his beautiful wife was doing. He told me she was doing fine — only doing it with someone else.

I then remembered the story — which of course everyone knew the ins and outs of — only I’d forgotten it at a crucial moment. How embarrassing.

A gaffe is usually a mistake in a social setting. When you say — or do — something that causes embarrassment, we can say it was a gaffe. This noun has nothing to do with the German gaffen, although if you are caught gawping at an accident you should feel embarrassed. It comes from the French for boat hook, which, in French, also means a blunder.

Journalists love using this expression, especially when they want to portray people of higher social standing making embarrassing mistakes.

The G20 meeting was allegedly full of them. Racist, sexist, royal, social or just unavoidable?

• Prince Philip, who is gaffe-prone at the best of times, made the most cringe-worthy gaffe of the G20 summit. President Obama was telling the Queen and Prince Philip about his morning: "I had breakfast with the prime minister, meetings with the Chinese, Russians, David Cameron ..." Prince Philip then asked him: "Can you tell the difference?" A racist gaffe?

• Barack Obama greeted Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva with: "There's my man, love this guy. Most popular politician on earth! It's his good looks." Lula then says something which is impossible to hear, and Obama asks: "Is that where all the pretty girls are?" A sexist gaffe?

• Michelle Obama’s gaffe came in the company of royalty. She may have breached royal protocol by putting her arm around the Queen. However, Buckingham Palace issued an official statement afterwards saying it was "a mutual and spontaneous display of affection". So, not a royal gaffe?

• Silvio Berlusconi's gaffe has become popular viewing on YouTube. After the official photograph was taken, Berlusconi shouted out loudly across the room to President Obama. The Queen seemed to scold him and ask, "Why does he have to shout?" A social gaffe?

• The Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper missed the official photo, supposedly because he was in the loo. An unavoidable gaffe?

But taking all the above gaffes into account, I still think mine was more serious. I apologized, my colleague forgave me, and we both laughed about my faux pas. Which, in my opinion, is the best reaction to most gaffes — including the ones above.