contretemps ˈkän-trə-ˌtän , kōⁿ-trə-tän noun
1. an awkward clash
2. unexpected and unfortunate occurrence
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The word contretemps has appeared in 17 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year, including on Jan. 4 in “F.D.A. Accuses Juul and Altria of Backing Off Plan to Stop Youth Vaping” by Sheila Kaplan:
WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration is accusing Juul and Altria of reneging on promises they made to the government to keep e-cigarettes away from minors.
Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the agency’s commissioner, is drafting letters to both companies that will criticize them for publicly pledging to remove nicotine flavor pods from store shelves, while secretly negotiating a financial partnership that seems to do the opposite. He plans to summon top executives of the companies to F.D.A. headquarters to explain how they will stick to their agreements given their new arrangement.
… The contretemps with the F.D.A. is only the latest headache in Washington for Juul, a company that has had much more success capturing market share in an emerging industry than in navigating the government scrutiny that comes with it.
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