bon mot


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bon mot

 (bôN mō′)
n. pl. bons mots (bôN mō′, mōz′)
A clever saying; a witticism.
[French : bon, good + mot, word.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

bon mot

(French bɔ̃ mo)
n, pl bons mots (bɔ̃ mo)
a clever and fitting remark
[French, literally: good word]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

bon mot

(bɔ̃ ˈmoʊ)
n.

pl. bons mots (bɔ̃ ˈmoʊz)
a witty remark or comment; witticism.
[1725–35; < French: literally, good word]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

bon mot

A French phrase meaning good word, used to mean a witticism.
Dictionary of Unfamiliar Words by Diagram Group Copyright © 2008 by Diagram Visual Information Limited
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.bon mot - a clever remark
mot
humor, wit, witticism, wittiness, humour - a message whose ingenuity or verbal skill or incongruity has the power to evoke laughter
France, French Republic - a republic in western Europe; the largest country wholly in Europe
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

bon mot

noun joke, sally, gag (informal), quip, jibe, barb, jest, witticism, smart remark, witty remark, funny (informal), pithy remark, sardonic remark He was a genius for dissolving a tense situation with a bon mot.
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002
Translations

bon mot

[ˈbɒnˈməʊ] N → agudeza f
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

bon mot

n → Bonmot nt (geh)
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007
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References in classic literature ?
The donjon of Vincennes was considered very unhealthy and Madame de Rambouillet had said that the room in which the Marechal Ornano and the Grand Prior de Vendome had died was worth its weight in arsenic -- a bon mot which had great success.
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"You need not hurry when the object is only to prevent my saying a bon mot, for there is not the least wit in my nature.
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With my southern temperament, warped by the life I led in Paris, I should certainly have come to look without pity on an unhappy girl betrayed by her lover; I should have laughed at the story if it had been told me by some wag in merry company (for with us in France a clever bon mot dispels all feelings of horror at a crime), but all sophistries were silenced in the presence of this angelic creature, against whom I could bring no least word of reproach.
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Goethe said that every bon mot of his had cost a purse of gold.
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Just as Monsieur de Talleyrand was supposed to hail all events of whatever kind with a bon mot, so in these days of the Restoration the clerical party had the credit of doing and undoing everything.
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These are the services we offer at Agence Le Bon Mot and we have seen much success for many of our brands that have joined the shows since a few years back.
The Fashion Trade
Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot is a "play in which nothing happens, twice," in Vivian Mercier's bon mot. Less known to English-speaking audiences is another work in which nothing happens twice, namely Luis BuAaAaAeA~uel's 1962 film, The Exterminating Angel.
'The Exterminating Angel' at the Met
Kate Beckinsale, as Lady Susan Vernon, savours ever acidlaced bon mot with relish, observing that "facts are horrid things" as she stacks one tiny fib atop another.
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Scheming Lady Susan Stillman gifts this peach of a role to Kate Beckinsale and she savours every acid-laced bon mot with relish.
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One-liners pop up and tickle the funny bone, such as this bon mot about seeing a movie in the theater: "I didn't like the movie; but then I saw it under adverse conditions -- in the dark."
shanghai.shanghai.shanghai
For that we must be grateful and now not least because of this eloquent bon mot from a critical friend.
River Adams [Maria Kaplun], There Must Be You: Leonard Swidler's Journey to Faith and Dialogue

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