An awkward or embarrassing situation; a minor accident or quarrel that happens at an inconvenient time.
From French contre- (against) + temps (time), literally meaning 'against time.' The phrase originally described something happening at the wrong moment, at odds with the rhythm of events.
The French have a word for those hilariously bad-timed moments—when you trip right as the spotlight hits you—because awkwardness is universal, but the French decided to name it poetically.
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