112: Embarrassment"

Questions about the Video File:

1. What is embarrassment?
2. What are the physical symptoms of embarrassment?
3. How can you get over embarrassment in 3 steps?
4. What is the spotlight effect?
5. Why shouldn’t you apologize after an embarrassing situation?
6. How can you metaphorically change the channel?

General Questions:

1. When was the last time you felt embarrassed?
2. What situations or accidents do you generally consider embarrassing?
3. So you believe that embarrassment can differ from one culture to another? Is there anything which is particularly considered embarrassing in your culture?
4. How do you react in an embarrassing situation? Do you get fixated on that? Do you think it’s normal?

Related Quotes:

• “But I learned that there's a certain character that can be built from embarrassing yourself endlessly. If you can sit happy with embarrassment, there's not much else that can really get to you.” Christian Bale
• “The rate at which a person can mature is directly proportional to the embarrassment he can tolerate.” Douglas Engelbart
• “But that intimacy of mutual embarrassment, in which each feels that the other is feeling something, having once existed, its effect is not to be done away with.” George Eliot

Related Idioms and Expressions:

• Sweaty hands: hands covered in sweat
  • My sweaty hands told a lot about how stressed I was.
• Racing heart beats: faster than normal heartbeats
  • My racing heartbeats stopped me from speaking clearly.
• Call attention to yourself: to make people pay attention to you, specially unwanted attention
  • By singing an inappropriate song at the party, Mira called too much attention to herself and finally she felt really embarrassed.
• Bent out of shape: to become upset and annoyed about something that’s not usually that important or can’t be avoided.
  • Don’t bent out of shape if you leave the bathroom unzipped, it could happen to anyone.
• Ears turn red: feel too embarrassed
  • When nobody laughed at her joke, her ears turned red and she left the room quickly.
• Put your foot in your mouth: to say something or do something you shouldn’t have, especially when it’s embarrassing
  • I should put my foot in my mouth. I asked her if Jake was his father and she said he was her fiancé.
• Have egg on your face: if you have egg on your face you have done something embarrassing or foolish
  • When he didn’t find my joke funny and became angry I had an egg on my face.

Related Words and Phrases:

• Jam-packed (adj) very crowded; full of people or things
  • A jam-packed class is really a good chance for a shy student to hide behind others and avoid activities.
• Trip (v) lose your balance after knocking your feet against something when you are walking or running
  • I tripped over the children’s toy for thousands times and shouted at them angrily.
• Brush something off (phv) to refuse to listen to what someone says or to think about something
  • Just brush off negative thoughts and remember that it’s your own mentality that matters.
• Guffaw (v) to laugh out loud at something foolish someone has done or said
  • They all guffawed when they heard I have mistaken the MP for his guard.
• Invariably (adv) all the time; always
  • He is invariably telling jokes.
• Mantra (n) a sound, word or phrase which is believed to have a special mental or spiritual power especially when repeated.
  • “Don’t panic” she repeated it like a mantra when she was trapped in an elevator.
• Downplay (v) to make something look less important
  • There is no use in downplaying water shortage. Serious measures needs to be taken to solve the problem.
• Incessantly (n) constantly and repeatedly especially in an annoying way
  • He talked incessantly about the hot weather and annoyed everyone.
• Fixate (v) think about something or talk about it obsessively
  • Fixating on your problems just cripples you and stops you from doing something effective.
• Obnoxious (v) extremely unpleasant or rude
  • When he’s angry he becomes really obnoxious and it’s hard to tolerate him.
• Shamefaced (adj) embarrassed and awkward
  • You seem shamefaced again. How have you embarrassed yourself this time?
• Shamefacedly (adv)
  • Don’t look at me shamefacedly. You made a mistake and it sounds totally understandable to me.

Please leave a response to the following question as a comment: 

What’s the difference between embarrassment and shame