Idioms of shame.

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M.Tosza - 22 Jan 2004 13:35 GMT

Hello.
I'm from Poland and currently I'm writing a paper about cognitive
aspect of the concept of SHAME. I gathered a corpus of expressions,
yet it is still too small. I'd be very grateful if you could support
me with some idioms/metaphors of shame. Google gave me few like:
can't hold one's head up,
hang one's head,
hide one's face,
hide one's head,
hit an all-time-low,
hit bottom, tail between one's legs
However I need more of them. I'm sure you, as native speakers, know a
lot more of them. Could you share your knowledge with me? Peraps some
colloquialisms, or slang expressions?
I'd be very grateful.
TIA.

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Enrico C - 22 Jan 2004 14:57 GMT

> I'd be very grateful if you could support
> me with some idioms/metaphors of shame.

To put to the blush

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Enrico C

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M.Tosza - 22 Jan 2004 17:48 GMT

> > I'd be very grateful if you could support
> > me with some idioms/metaphors of shame.
> To put to the blush

Thanx. Anything more?

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Enrico C - 23 Jan 2004 09:58 GMT

>>> I'd be very grateful if you could support
>>> me with some idioms/metaphors of shame.
>> To put to the blush
>
> Thanx. Anything more?

to turn red

to seek a hole in which to hide

to sit on thorns (to be in an embarrassing situation)
"to carry a Scarlet letter"

(Puritans used a scarlet "A" as the stigma of adultery).

a shrinking violet (a bashful or shy person)

"He was such a shrinking violet in high school, he couldn't ask a girl
out on a date."
example from http://cleanfun.cz/efl/

to feel small

Example:
"Shame makes one feel small, inferior, insignificant, or unworthy."
http://www.briceandbensa.com/ThePainofShame.htm
(that's an interesting reading about "shame", by the way)

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M.Tosza - 27 Jan 2004 17:28 GMT

> > Thanx. Anything more?

[cut - examples]

> Example:
> "Shame makes one feel small, inferior, insignificant, or unworthy."
> http://www.briceandbensa.com/ThePainofShame.htm
> (that's an interesting reading about "shame", by the way)

Thank you very much. That shed some new light on my paper. :)

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Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2004

Idioms of shame.