Tacky business trip

Question

Hi!I wonder if you can say that a business trip is tacky in a sense that it is most common excuse of the husbands who cheat on their wives. I could write that the trip is fradulent but I guess it does not contain the tacky part of the meaning.

Philip · Accepted Answer

I like the use of the word tacky here.

So-called might work better for you than fraudulent.

Sam1947 · Answer

Hmmmm. I need a little more context here. Are you thinking of labeling business trips in general as tacky, or are you talking about one "so called" (good suggestion by Philip) business trip that, in your story or paper, is being used as an excuse to get out of town to cheat on a wife?

I wouldn't label all business trips as either tacky or fraudulent, and I wouldn't used "so called" with them, either, as most business trips are legitimate (one hopes!).

But, if you are speaking of the case of one man, on one trip that he has engineered just so he can cheat on his wife, I would refer to it as the "so called" business trip, if the cheating wasn't taking place in the context of a real business trip where the cheating was just thrown in for good measure (which happens sometimes), and I would refer to it as tawdry.

e.g.,

John arranged another so-called "business trip" to New York so that he could rendezvoux with the stripper he'd become so enamored with on that last tawdry trip he'd taken to the Big Apple. He wondered if his wife had begun to suspect something was amiss, as he usually didn't travel to New York more than once a year for the big industry show.

Antonija · Answer

Hi!
Thank you both.

sam1947But, if you are speaking of the case of one man, on one trip that he has engineered just so he can cheat on his wife, I would refer to it as the "so called" business trip, if the cheating wasn't taking place in the context of a real business trip where the cheating was just thrown in for good measure (which happens sometimes), and I would refer to it as tawdry.

Sam, that's it.
So, if this is the case, can I still call them tacky ?

Vorpar · Answer

Tacky has more of a connotation of being rude, unpleasant, or unaesthetic.

"Wearing golf pants to a dance is tacky."

I wouldn't call lying to one's wife tacky, unless the situation were a bit different. Perhaps taking the wife with him to New York as a second honeymoon to gain the opportunity to cheat would be tacky.

Sam1947 · Answer

I agree, which is why I'd use tawdry. Although the husband's behavior might be considered tacky on steroids, I'd call the trip tawdry. Tacky seems a bit trite for this situation. A woman walking and smoking is tacky. Chewing gum in public is tacky, especially if done vigorously. Chipped fingernail polish is tacky. Excluding someone you should invite to a party and then letting them know about the party is tacky. And, as V says, wearing golf pants to a formal dance is tacky.

Your context calls for tawdry, illicit, deceptive, duplicitous, etc.

Antonija · Answer

Thank you so much for your explanations. I get it now.

Antonija · Answer

VorparI wouldn't call lying to one's wife tacky, unless the situation were a bit different. Perhaps taking the wife with him to New York as a second honeymoon to gain the opportunity to cheat would be tacky.

Tacky business trip

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