| Front | betise \bay-TEEZ\ plural betises \bay-TEEZ\ |
|---|---|
| Back | noun 1. Stupidity, foolishness. 2. A foolish remark or action. [From French bêtise (stupidity, nonsense), from bête (foolish, beast), from Old French beste (beast), from Latin bestia. A related French term is bête noire (literally, black beast), something or someone dreaded or avoided.] "Public accountability of ministers and senior civil servants has, to put it mildly, been relaxed. If something goes badly wrong, the minister in whose orbit the betise has occurred rarely makes a public apology, let alone resigns." - Europe: What's Wrong With Nepotism, Anyway?, The Economist (London), Mar 20, 1999. "We say English; they say language arts. There are some resemblances between the two tongues, and `The Expository Mode of Discourse' warns against overdoing the conjunctions - a betise technically known, apparently, as an `on and on' - and tells us that the run-on sentence is still regarded as serious error." - James Gill, When the Jargon is Impenetrable, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, Louisiana), May 21, 1995. |
Learn with these flashcards. Click next, previous, or up to navigate to more flashcards for this subject.
Next card: Sabulous lower urinary tract common sab-yuh-luhs adjective sandy
Previous card: Katzenjammer kat-sen-jam-uhr noun hangover distress depression confusion clamor
Up to card list: Hard English Vocabulary