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.

   • The Observer, 01/04/2007, Bishop blocks gay youth worker's job, [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, 面上无光 (miànshàngwúguāng), 出醜／出丑 (zh) (chūchǒu), 出丑 (zh) (chūchǒu)

• Dutch: een figuur slaan
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Finnish: tahrata maineensa
• Italian: fare una figuraccia
• Russian: уда́рить в грязь лицом (udáritʹ v grjazʹ licom)