difference between ～の折に and ～の時に


While studying for JLPT N2 I came across this expression `の折に`. It appears to
be _almost identical_ to `の時に`. My reference suggests that it's basically the
same, but simply less polite.

What I find suspicious is that I've been studying Japanese for quite a number
of years, and I have never seen or heard of this until now, and dictionaries
such as [アルク](http://eow.alc.co.jp/%E3%81%AE%E6%8A%98%E3%81%AB/UTF-8/) suggest
that it is not very common.

Is there a difference in meaning / nuance? Is it actually common and I've just
been blind all this time? (I wonder why it's not taught in any normal textbook
/ Japanese course in that case). Should I avoid it?

I would appreciate if anyone can shed some light onto the usage.




`A の折に B` 'B on the occasion of A' may have the nuance that A is some special
occation and is not that frequent. `A の時に B` 'B when A' is neutral in this
respect. Depending on the context, this may make some difference.

I had thought that `折に` is rather the polite one. `折に` is slightly archaic or
formal, and you do not see it in casual conversation so often. That's probably
why you hadn't seen it; there was a reason for it.




`A の折に B` 'B on the occasion of A' may have the nuance that A is some special
occation and is not that frequent. `A の時に B` 'B when A' is neutral in this
respect. Depending on the context, this may make some difference.

I had thought that `折に` is rather the polite one. `折に` is slightly archaic or
formal, and you do not see it in casual conversation so often. That's probably
why you hadn't seen it; there was a reason for it.

