contretemps [ˈkɒntrəˌtɑ̃] n.
1.) An inopportune occurrence; an untoward accident; an unexpected mishap or hitch.
2.) A disagreement or argument; a dispute.
3.) Dancing. A step danced on the unaccented portion of the beat; especially in ballet (Oxford English Dictionary 2nd Edition).
Etymology: French: contre-, against (from Latin contra-) + temps, time (from Latin tempus).
"Next, his delight led him gracefully to execute a hop in ballet fashion, so that the wardrobe trembled and a bottle of eau-de-Cologne came crashing to the floor. Yet even this contretemps did not upset him; he merely called the offending bottle a fool, and then debated whom first he should visit in his attractive guise" (Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol, D. J. Hogarth (trans.), 1842).
(La Salle de ballet de l’Opéra, rue Le Pelletier, Edgar Degas, 1872)
groundbass [graʊnd beɪs] n.
1.) Mus. A bass-passage of four or eight bars in length, constantly repeated with a varied melody and harmony.
2.) Fig. An undercurrent (Oxford English Dictionary 2nd Edition).
Etymology: ground, from Middle English, from Old English grund + bass, from Middle English bas, base, now spelled bass after Italian basso, but still pronounced as base. (Alexander Pope rimed base and ass.)
"An intelligent director can and should ensure that the on-stage audience demonstrates some awareness of the groundbass of mortality sounding underneath the hilarity generated by Bottom's performance, that a line like Lysander's "he is dead, he is nothing" (V.i.308-9) is not lost in the merriment" ("General Introduction" to The Riverside Shakespeare, Anne Barton, 1974).
(The Reconciliation of Oberon and Titania, Joseph Noel Paton, 1847)
four-flusher [ˈfɔrˌflʌʃər] n.
1.) A pretender, braggart, humbug (O.E.D. 2nd Ed.).
Etymology: In poker, a four flush (also bob-tail flush) is a flush containing only four (instead of five) cards, and hence almost worthless. Thus four-flush as adjective, meaning 'lacking in genuineness', and as intransitive verb, meaning 'to act in a bluffing or fraudulent manner'.
"'Couldn't it have been a suicide?" I asked. With Tim Noonan getting a last-minute bright idea to stick it on Max?'
'That four-flusher shoot himself? Not a chance'" (Red Harvest, Dashiell Hammett, 1929).
(The Abduction of Parolles, Francis Wheatley, 1792)
