egg on one's face

English

Etymology

Attested by 1948.

Noun

egg on one's face (uncountable)

1. (informal) Embarrassment or humiliation; damage to one's reputation.

   He really has egg on his face after that gaffe.

   • 2007 April 1, “Bishop blocks gay youth worker's job”, in The Observer‎^[1]:

     I hope the bishop of Hereford comes out of this with a great deal of egg on his face.

Translations

• Note: These are translations for the verb phrase "have egg on one's face".

suffer embarrassment or humiliation

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 面上無光／面上无光 (miànshàngwúguāng), 出醜／出丑 (zh) (chūchǒu)

• Dutch: een figuur slaan
• Finnish: tahrata maineensa
• French: être en porte-à-faux (fr)
• German: Schamesröte im Gesicht f
• Italian: fare una figuraccia
• Russian: уда́рить в грязь лицом (ru) (udáritʹ v grjazʹ licom)

See also

• lose face