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10 Times Idioms Were Used Incorrectly In Famous SituationsWhen idioms are misused, quite a bit can be lost in translation, leaving the audience scratching their heads (we've done a slideshow on that too!). A gaffe between friends is one thing, but what about when the whole world is listening? Pretty embarrassing ... or learning moment? Either way, here are 10 times idioms were used incorrectly in famous situations.
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Origin of gaffe
Can be confusedgaff gaffe
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for gaffe
British Dictionary definitions for gaffe
gaffe
/ (ɡæf) /
noun
a social blunder, esp a tactless remark
Word Origin for gaffe
C19: from French
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for gaffe
gaffe
"blunder," 1909, perhaps from French gaffe "clumsy remark," originally "boat hook," from Middle French gaffe (15c.), from Old Provençal gaf, probably from a Germanic source, from Proto-Germanic *gafa. Sense connection is obscure; the gaff was used to land big fish. Or it may derive from British slang gaff "to cheat, trick" (1893); or gaff "criticism" (1896), from Scottish dialect sense of "loud, rude talk" (see gaff (n.2)).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper