eat humble pie
English
WOTD – 26 February 2006
Etymology
The spoken phrase a numble pie (a pie made from the entrails of a deer) was re-interpreted as an umble pie, then written as (a) humble pie, after which the figurative meaning developed.
Pronunciation
Audio (AU) (file)
Verb
- (idiomatic, intransitive) to admit one's faults; to make a humiliating apology
- 1869, Louisa May Alcott, An Old-Fashioned Girl:
- Polly had a spice of girlish malice, and rather liked to see domineering Tom eat humble-pie, just enough to do him good, you know.
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Translations
to admit one's faults
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Further reading
- humble in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
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