eat humble pie
Meaning: To admit one was wrong and apologize humbly.
Language: English
Literally: (Already vivid in English)
Example: “After insisting the shortcut was faster, Dad had to eat humble pie when we arrived an hour late.”
Category: Food & Drink
Origin: A pun. "Umble pie" was made from the "umbles," the heart, liver and other innards of a deer, a cheaper dish than the venison itself. "Humble pie" in the figurative sense is recorded from the early 19th century.
Equivalents in other languages
- Swedish: Att göra en pudel — literally: To do a poodle
- French: Faire amende honorable — literally: To make honorable amends
More idioms — Food & Drink
- a banana republic — A small, politically unstable country dominated by a corrupt elite or foreign business.
- drain the cup to the dregs — To endure a hardship or humiliation to the very end.
- the icing on the cake — An extra good thing added to something already good.
- take with a grain of salt — To be skeptical about something; not to take it entirely at face value.
- I could eat a horse — I am extremely hungry.
- there's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip — Many things can go wrong before a plan succeeds.
More English idioms
- year in, year out — Continually, every year without change.
- sign one's own death warrant — To do something that will cause one's own ruin.
- child's play — Something very easy to do.
- at death's door — Very close to dying, or feeling extremely ill.
- play devil's advocate — To argue against something, not out of belief, but to test the argument.
- every which way — In all directions, in disorder.
From our tongue twisters
- She sells seashells by the seashore. — The definitive 's' versus 'sh' alternation — the tongue has to switch place of articulati…
- Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. — A relentless 'p' plosive drill; a peck is an old dry measure of about nine litres.
- Unique New York. — Three words that jam the 'y/n/k' sequence together — repeat it and it collapses into 'you…