phrases, sayings, idioms and expressions at

Egg on your face

Posted by TheFallen on April 15, 2002

In reply to the mixed-up post below...

To have egg on one's face means to be publically embarrassed or to look particularly foolish, almost always as a result of one's own unwitting actions. I don't know the origin, though it might come from the world of vaudeville theatre, where I'll bet that fall guys often had raw eggs broken against their foreheads, thus leaving egg dripping down their faces. If I'm correct, this would presumably have been before the invention of the custard pie :)

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