Word to the Wise: Malapropos

"Malapropos" (mal-ap-ruh-POH) - from the French for "badly to the purpose" - means unseasonable, unsuitable, or inappropriate.

Example (as used by Gerry Forbes in The Calgary Sun): "As an on-air radio pronouncer, I am quite familiar with the hazard of opening the mouth before the brain is in gear. It is very easy to fire off a malapropos statement in the heat of trying to make a point, and the result is some funny things are said, but perhaps not meant."

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