Idiom of the Week

Idioms, Reflections

Hello and welcome!

I thought I would stick with the egg theme this week so our idiom is “egg on your face“.

Writing explained tells us that to have egg on your face is:

To feel embarrassed; to have made a fool of oneself.

They go on to tell us:

This expression first appeared in mid-20th-century America. It quickly made its way into British parlance as well.

Its exact origin is unclear. Sources speculate that it might come from eating eggs, and having some of the food stuck to one’s face in an embarrassing way.

Others think it might come from the theater, when angry audience members threw rotten food, such as eggs, at bad performers.

I don’t have a personal story to go along with this idiom but I am hoping some of you might.

Can you think of a time when you “had egg on your face”? Please tell us in the comments section below.

15 thoughts on “Idiom of the Week”

  3. I don’t embarrass easily and I try to forget about my failures as quickly as I can, so nothing comes to mind when it comes to answering your question. It’s an idiom I don’t really hear often. Thanks for sharing.

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  4. Working at a Flowershop with Greenhouse.
    Lady asked what the name of a Coleious
    Was. I was 22 and not familiar with the name I gave anouther word I thought close and the poor lady left the Greenhouse. Much later I realized what the word was I used and boy oh boy that was so embarrassing. No one around but I still blushed!

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    2. 😃 this really made me laugh. I was admiring my flower garden one summer and told my husband to look at how pretty my clematis was and he said he didn’t think I should talk like that.

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  5. This will be a long comment, but I hope you get a chuckle out of it) I remember my latest embarrassing moment like it was yesterday ( lol because it was) We were running errands in and around Bristol. We pack alot into our days out because everything is such a distance to travel. Our last stop of the day was Rural King. My husband loves this store and we literally will spend hours there. He was going up and down evey aisle and I was going back and forth picking out items I wanted. In the apparel section I found the cutest baseball style hat. I love hats but they are not always comfortable for me. I tried it on and wore it back to show it to him. We continued shopping and filled up two carts of merchandise. We had the sweetest young cashier. We were joking about how long we had been in there and how much he loves shopping there. He was actually still shopping while I was checking out. She had rung up all the merchandise, when he came back with a couple more items that she rung up. She asked if that was all. and as I started to say yes, he asked the girl if she had gotten the hat on my head. I was so embarrassed, after 30 years working in a retail store , I had seen the same thing happen to so many people. We all had a good laugh. but I am so very grateful that I did not walk out without paying for that hat. (p.s. it is very comfortable and I love its message “Y’all Need Jesus ” its good thing He looks out for me )

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    1. It did make me laugh but boy that could have ended badly. You know from working in retail that they take shoplifting pretty seriously nowadays. It’s a good thing they BOTH look out for you!

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