Meaning
What does Egg On Your Face mean?
Egg on your face is a colloquial phrase used to describe someone as looking foolish, ridiculous and embarrassing.
Origin
What's the origin of Egg On Your Face?
There are several theories on the origin of the phrase, one ranging back several centuries, while the other one is a lot more recent.
One theory about “egg on your face” suggests that the idiom comes from theaters where lower class audiences would throw eggs at a bad actor in order to force them off the stage.
A different theory states that the expression originates from the dining table where if one was eating sloppy and without manners, they would end up with eggs conspicuously smeared on their face.
The phrase would emerge in the United States during 1940’s.
Spread & Usage
How did Egg On Your Face spread?
By the 1970’s, “eggs on your face” was an established expression in both the US as well as the UK.
It was first defined on Urban Dictionary in 2005.
External resources
- Languagecouncils.sg – Egg on your Face
- Urban Dictionary – Egg on your face