22.11.11

An Egg on Your Face

Cartoon for Tom Vilsak
By Jeff Koterba
7/22/2010

In english, "you have egg on your face" means you feel embarrassed or stupid because of something wrong you've done or said.

There seem to be two theories about "egg on one's face."

John Ciardi, traces the phrase back to the days when discontented theater audiences routinely pelted substandard performers with household refuse, including overripe vegetables and rotten eggs. One problem with this theory is that "to have egg on one's face" is apparently a fairly recent invention, first found in print in the mid-20th century, long after such demonstrative form.

A more likely explanation would be that the phrase refers to traces of egg unknowingly left on a diner's face after breakfast, to be noticed only later and after, perhaps, greeting one's boss or another important person.
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