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GENERAL ENGLISH · GENERAL ISSUES · UPPER-INTERMEDIATE (B2-C1)

THAT’S
EMBARRASSING!

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1 Warm up

Read the following situations and rate them from 1 (least embarrassing) to 10 (most embarrassing).

✷ You walk into a room with people you don’t know and realize that your shoelace is undone.
✷ You’re walking your dog and see someone you think is very attractive. Your dog goes to the
bathroom just as they get near to you.

✷ You accidentally call your female teacher ‘Mom’.

✷ You’re walking down a busy street and trip over your own feet.
✷ You lean in to give a relative a kiss and hit them with your head.
✷ You’re on a first date and you accidently burp loudly.
✷ You’re with your friends and you accidently burp loudly.
✷ You forget your father’s birthday.
✷ A stranger speaks to you in English and you don’t understand, even when they’ve repeated it
three times.

✷ You use a friend’s toilet without realizing that it is broken and won’t flush.

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THAT’S EMBARRASSING!

2 Focus on vocabulary

Part A: Match the vocabulary items to their correct definitions.

a) exacerbate (v) b) incongruous (adj.) c) resentful (adj.) d) foolish (adj.)

f) humiliation (n) g) dignity (n) h) self-importance (n)

1. a feeling of being ashamed because you look stupid in front of other people
and have lost respect
2. not being suitable in a particular situation

3. feeling angry about a situation that you think was unfair

4. make a situation worse

5. not making sensible decisions or showing proper judgement

6. a belief that you are superior to other people

7. respect and honor given to someone by other people

Part B: Complete the following sentences with the vocabulary from Part A. You may need to change
the form of the word.

1. In retrospect, the decision to run naked into the police station was a pretty one.

2. Any sense of I had was lost when I angrily walked out and hit myself in the face
with the door.

3. When he emerged from the toilet to realize he was still on the video call, his was
complete.

4. After all these years, my brother is still of the time I pulled his swimming trunks
down in front of a group of girls he liked.

5. Not realizing he’d ripped the back of his pants was made all the funnier by his .

6. The kids’ laughter over the chair collapsing only served to the teacher’s anger.

7. With him being well over six foot and her being just over four feet tall, they made for a rather
couple.

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THAT’S EMBARRASSING!

3 Focus on idioms

For each of the following sentences, write the meaning of the words in bold.

1. He was so full of self-importance that people couldn’t resist taking him down a peg or two.

2. I ended up with an egg on my face when it turned out that she’d been right all along.

3. I was sitting there minding my own business when a cow came over to me and started eating my
lunch.

4. When he walked into the room with toilet paper stuck to his shoe, everyone cracked up.

5. When everyone turned around to look at me, I wanted to curl up and die.

6. I was trying to enjoy being with my friends, but the situation at work was preying on my mind.

7. I fell over in the middle of the dance floor which everyone saw. I wished the ground would open
up and swallow me.

8. He tried to regain some dignity after he’d squirted ketchup in his face, but there was no coming
back from that one.

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THAT’S EMBARRASSING!

4 Listening for details

Listen to the podcast about an embarrassing situation and possible reasons for its humor. Which of
the following idioms were not mentioned by the speakers?

1. minding your own business

2. curl up and die

3. egg on your face

4. fall about laughing

5. take someone down a peg or two

6. no coming back from that one

7. prey on someone’s mind

8. wish the ground would open up and swallow me

5 Listening comprehension

Listen to the podcast again and choose the best answer a - c for each of the questions 1 - 7.

1. In the anecdote, the train was

a. crowded.

b. virtually empty.

c. about half-full.

2. The first man to use the bathroom was ... the second man.

a. unable to get out for

b. shouted at by

c. disturbed by

3. Why does the male host describe the situation as "beautiful"?

a. Strangers worked together to solve a problem.

b. It brought together a group of strangers in laughter.

c. There was respect for the first man’s dignity.

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THAT’S EMBARRASSING!

4. What does the female host think causes the laughter in that situation?

a. The enjoyment derived from seeing a figure of authority looking foolish in front of other
people.
b. The physical comedy involved in a very public situation that was a complete surprise for
everyone.
c. Its unexpected nature and observers who felt relieved that it was someone else who was
embarrassed.

5. The first man reacted to the situation with

a. shock.
b. irritation.
c. amusement.

6. How does the female host think that culture plays a part in the episode?

a. There’s a lot of jokes based around going to the toilet which is inherently funny to a lot of
people.
b. There’s a particular love of people being humiliated, no matter who they are.
c. People get a lot of enjoyment from watching people who think they are better than others
look silly.

7. What does the male host think everyone was laughing about?

a. The general circumstances.

b. The first man’s reaction.
c. The first man’s embarrassment.

6 Reading for accuracy

Choose the best word A - C to complete the gaps 1 - 10 in the article on page six.

1. A. convenient B. convenience C. inconvenience

2. A. Unbelievable B. Unbeknown C. Unbecoming

3. A. left B. right C. straight

4. A. wide B. deep C. long

5. A. make-up B. glasses C. coat

6. A. really B. extremely C. very

7. A. off B. out C. away

8. A. blamed B. shamed C. named

9. A. disappear B. appear C. reappear

10. alarm B. alert C. emergency

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THAT’S EMBARRASSING!

Everyone Knows!
Viral embarrassing situations
1
a. One morning, Anne Hughes was waiting to start work at a store in her hometown in Wales
when a life-changing accident happened. When her boss opened up the store to begin the day, she was leaning
2
against the shutter with her shopping cart. to her, her coat had got caught on the metal screen
and, as it went up, she was hoisted into the air with it. In a panic, she grabbed her shopping cart, but to no avail.
The cart went with her. She shouted to her boss to close the shutter, but she was drowned out by the noise and
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was hanging several feet above the ground.

b. The entire incident was caught on security CCTV and, as is the way in these modern times, it wasn’t
4
before it found its way onto TikTok bringing Mrs. Hughes’ awkward encounter to the attention of
an international audience. Fortunately, she wasn’t hurt, just shaken. Her boss quickly realized what was happening
and came out to save her from the ordeal. Anne was able to see the funny side of the situation. She joked that
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she would now have to always have her on, thanks to her newfound fame. ‘I’ll never hear the
end of it,’ she said. ‘My boss has said he’s never liked his staff hanging around.’ Shortly afterwards, a local graffiti
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artist was paid to depict ‘shop shutter gran’ in a mural at the place where it happened. Mrs.
Hughes says she’s very proud of it.

c. In terms of embarrassment, this situation undoubtedly pales in comparison to another viral episode in 2017. Liam
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Smith went with a woman he’d met on Tinder for a second date, enjoying dinner along with
a few beers. They had a good evening and decided to return to his apartment to end the evening. After they got
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in, the woman, who was not for reasons which will become clear, asked to use the bathroom.
What happened next is perhaps one of the worst possible scenarios on an early date.
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d. Having used the toilet, she tried to flush it, but the poop refused to . In a panic, she scooped
it out of the toilet in a plastic bag and attempted to throw it out of the window into the garden. Unfortunately,
it became wedged between two non-opening windows instead. In an attempt to save the rapidly deteriorating
situation, she climbed up and tried to retrieve the unpleasant package, but got stuck herself. She finally had to
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Liam to the situation and, as he was unable to pull her out, he was forced to call the fire brigade.
They had to carefully break the window to get the hapless woman out, but only once they had finished giggling.

sources: bbc.com

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THAT’S EMBARRASSING!

7 Reading comprehension

Part A: Decide if the following sentences are true (T), false (F) or not given (NG).

1. Anne Hughes worked as a sales assistant at the store.

2. Her boss immediately responded when she shouted for help.

3. There is film footage of what happened to Anne Hughes.

4. She received injuries during the incident.

5. Anne’s boss paid for the painting of her famous incident.

6. The viral incident was the first time Liam Smith had met the woman.

7. The fire fighters were amused by the situation when they arrived.

Part B: Answer the following questions in your own words.

1. What does to no avail mean in paragraph A?

2. What did Anne Hughes mean when she said I’ll never hear the end of it in paragraph B?

3. What does pales in comparison mean in paragraph C?

8 Talking point

In pairs, discuss the following questions.

1. What is the most embarrassing situation that you have ever been in?
2. What is the most embarrassing situation that you have seen someone else in?
3. What situations generally have the potential to embarrass you?
4. Is there anything you avoid doing because you’re worried about embarrassment?
5. What do you think is the best way to react to an embarrassing situation? Why?
6. What would you have done in any of the situations described in the reading article or the podcast?

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THAT’S EMBARRASSING!

9 Optional extension / homework

Complete the crossword using vocabulary from the lesson.

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