Is it acceptable to say something is “apropros” of a person?

Question

The sentence I'm crafting is as follows:

That's some sage-like advice apropros of Mister Miyagi

Is that proper usage of the word?

Answer 1

No, it is incorrect usage, given what you meant (I was wanting to compare someone's advice to that given by Miyagi ).
apropos comes from French language where it is common, but in English I think it is formal.
In some very specific contexts, it is proper. First, Miyagi has to be mentioned before. For example, suppose you spoke or heard something about Miyagi. And also, suppose Miyagi is a wise man, that gives great advice-a modern Sun-Tzu. Then, another person, tells you a tip. You might say then That's some sage-like advice apropros of Mister Miyagi

From Cambridge Dictionary:

ap·ro·pos adv used to introduce something which is related to or connected with something that has just been said
I had a letter from Sally yesterday - apropos (of) which, did you send her that article?
Apropos what you said yesterday, I think you made the right decision.!

Answer 2

I think reminiscent of is a better fit. If you write

"That's some sage-like advice reminiscent of Mister Miyagi",

it means

"That reminds me of something Mr. Miyagi would say, like 'The best block is: no be there'"

Apropos means "fitting" or "appropriate"; you can say that Mr. Miyagi says things that are apropos to the situation, but the things he says are not apropos of him. It's also quite common to use "Apropos" or "Apropos of" as a substitute for "Speaking of" or "With regard to" at the beginning of a statement:

"I saw Mr. Miyagi at the store yesterday."
"Apropos (of) Mr. Miyagi, that was some sage advice you gave me earlier."

I like to use "apropos" as a way to change the subject. Sometimes you want to say something that's so totally unrelated to the previous conversation that "By the way" just doesn't work:

Apropos of nothing, did you hear about the kid who ran through a screen door and strained himself?

Answer 3

Technically, you can put the word there without any grammar alarms ringing, but the meaning isn't quite right.

What is intended is "of the type you'd expect from", but "apropos of" means more along the lines of "with reference to".

I believe what's happened is that the speaker has gone for the more modern, "unofficial", usage, where it is used to mean "appropriate", probably because the words sound largely the same.

The word "luck" sounds largely the same as another word, too, which highlights the reason for not choosing words that only sound like the one that expresses what you want to say.

Answer 4

That seems to be a proper usage if the advice is about Mister Miyagi, rather than from him. Personally I would leave out the of, but usage varies.

Added after comments: If you want to compare someone's advice to that given by Miyagi, then you need to say that, perhaps "That's sage-like advice compared with Mister Miyagi's" if you think it better, or "That advice is as sage-like as Mister Miyagi's" if you think it as good.