Eat humble pie

Rob Hi, Feifei. I’m glad you’ve come to watch me train for the pie-eating competition. I’m going to be the new champion! I’m so sure of it – no one’s going to beat me, I’m the best!

Feifei How can you be so sure you are going to win?

Rob Because I love eating.

Feifei But you’re so thin. I can’t imagine ten of these huge pies fitting inside your skinny body.

Rob Don’t worry, they will – I’ll eat them all and very quickly.

Feifei So let me start the clock. Are you ready?

Rob Yes!

Feifei Here we go!

Rob Okay. Right, let me try some of these… (eating pies). Lovely! Lovely!

Feifei Well, two down … eight to go.

Rob Okay, a bit more …(eating more pies)

Feifei That’s four now … five and …

Rob No! No! I can’t eat anymore!

Feifei Are you sure?

Rob Yes, I’m full up!

Feifei If you can’t finish these, you’re going to have to eat humble pie.

Rob Humble pie? I won’t have room for any type of pie. I’m stuffed! But I see what you mean. I have to admit that I was wrong when I said I could eat all those pies.

Feifei Yes, in English, when we say someone has to ‘eat humble pie’, we mean they have to admit they can’t do something they boasted about. It’s a bit humiliating for them.

Rob Yes. That person then has to act in an apologetic way. ‘To eat humble pie’ is today’s expression in The English We Speak. Let’s hear some examples of how it’s used.

Examples The factory owner had to eat humble pie after a lot of customers complained about his product.

Peter is so arrogant. He said he could finish the work much quicker than anybody else in the office. I hope he has to eat humble pie.

Rob So, I can’t eat ten pies in a few minutes after all. We still have all these pies, which are very tasty actually. You can have some, Feifei.

Feifei Thank you. Mmm, not bad. This is an interesting expression, Rob. I wonder where it came from.

Rob Well, some people say it might have come from ‘umbles’, which is an old word for animal organs like kidneys, intestines, etc. In the past, rich people might have considered eating an ‘umbles pie’ as a punishment. But who knows?

Feifei Well, Rob, I don’t think eating all those pies is a punishment. We just have to eat one at a time and enjoy each one.

Rob Good idea! Okay. Shall we start now?

Feifei Yes.

Rob Here it goes. Okay. Bye bye!

Feifei Bye!

Rob Lovely!