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

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Verb

eat humble pie (third-person singular simple present eats humble pie, present participle eating humble pie, simple past ate humble pie, past participle eaten humble pie)

1. (idiomatic, intransitive) To admit one's faults; to make a humiliating apology.
   • 1857–1859, W[illiam] M[akepeace] Thackeray, chapter XII, in The Virginians. A Tale of the Last Century, volume I, London: Bradbury & Evans, […], published 1858, →OCLC:

     They were good-natured enough out of their cups, and ate their humble-pie with very good appetites at a reconciliation dinner which Colonel W. had with the 44th, and where he was as perfectly stupid and correct as Prince Prettyman need be. Hang him!

   • 1869–1870, Louisa M[ay] Alcott, An Old-Fashioned Girl, Boston, Mass.: Roberts Brothers, published 1870, →OCLC:

     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.

   • 1879, Henry James, Confidence, London: Chatto & Windus:

     Angela shook her head. “Men are dull creatures.”
     “I have already granted that, and I am eating humble pie in asking for an explanation.”

   • 1909, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, Ann Veronica, London: T. Fisher Unwin:

     You square the G.V., and go home before you have to. That’s my advice. If you don’t eat humble-pie now you may live to fare worse later.

   • 2022 March 8, Andrew Anthony, “Liberalism and Its Discontents by Francis Fukuyama review – a defence of liberalism… from a former neocon”, in The Guardian‎^[1], →ISSN:

     But there seems little doubt that Fukuyama has had to eat rather a lot of humble pie.

Translations

to admit one's faults

• Czech: sypat popel na hlavu
• Finnish: nöyrtyä (fi), pyytää nöyrästi anteeksi
• French: manger son chapeau (fr)
• German: zu Kreuze kriechen (de)
• Hungarian: megalázkodik (hu)
• Icelandic: leggja niður skottið
• Italian: mangiare la polvere
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: spise hatten sin, krype til korset (no)

• Polish: pokajać się impf
• Spanish: tragarse las palabras
• Swedish: krypa till korset (sv)

See also

• swallow one's pride
• eat crow
• pass under the yoke

Further reading

• “humble”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “Eat humble pie”, in BBC Learning English‎^[2], BBC, 2014 November 4.