- Meaning
- This idiom means to humbly admit fault, accept humiliation, or submit to a humbling situation, often after being proven wrong or overconfident. It suggests swallowing one’s pride, likened to eating a pie made of inferior ingredients, symbolizing humility. The phrase is used in personal, professional, or social contexts to describe the act of conceding or apologizing, often with a contrite or slightly mocking tone. It reflects the cultural tension between pride and accountability, emphasizing the growth that comes from acknowledging errors.
- Origin
- The phrase originates from medieval England, where ‘umble pie’ (made from animal offal) was a dish for servants, contrasting with lords’ finer meals. The term ‘humble pie’ emerged by the 17th century, with a 1648 *Mercurius Pragmaticus* article using it to describe defeated soldiers’ humility. The modern form was cemented in the 19th century, as seen in Charles Dickens’ *David Copperfield* (1850), where characters ‘eat humble pie’ after setbacks. The phrase’s pun on ‘umble’ and ‘humble’ and its class-based imagery ensured its popularity in British and American English, particularly during times of social mobility and public accountability.
- Variants
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- Eat humble pie
- Eat your humble pie
- Have to eat humble pie
- Eating humble pie
- Examples
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- He had to eat humble pie after his bold claims were debunked by the evidence.
- She ate humble pie when her rival outperformed her in the competition.
- Eating humble pie, they apologized for underestimating the new hire’s skills.
- Eat your humble pie and admit you misjudged the situation.
- The CEO ate humble pie after the failed product launch he’d championed.
- They had to eat humble pie when their shortcut caused the project to fail.
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