GAUCHE

I picked up a dictionary or 3 last week (and a few more this one) and this is the best of the lot. Which isn't saying much but when your store of choice is a thrift or estate sale you take what is offered.

I learned the word gauche in 10th or 11th grade thanks to an old bird teacher who hated us all. Our ignorance repulsed her and she would oft grumble under her breath "how gauche." To which we inquired, "What does that mean?" Reluctantly, she told us in her offhand way with white foam bubbling in the corners of her mouth and then guffawed with pronounced disgust thick in her hushed rebuttal of our existence. This book is hardly a champion tome of wordsmithmanship but it'll suffice.

GAUCHE

(gohsh), adjective

Tactless; lacking in social refinement. A socially inappropriate remark or action could be considered gauche.



from The Words You Show Know by David Olsen