Saturday, September 20, 2014
Thursday, September 4, 2014
difference between humiliate and embarrass
difference between humiliate and embarrass
(My kids always [humiliate/embarrass] me in public.
Are they interchangeable? Any difference in meaning at all?
Thanks in advance!)
- Embarrassed is when you feel uncomfortable around other people. Say your pants rip or you spill sauce on your shirt. You would feel embarrassed to be seen by other people.
Humiliation is to feel embarrassed to the point of feeling ashamed. It is embarrassment to a greater degree.
A person caught for stealing money from the company he works for would feel humiliation if the police arrest him in front of his neighbors.
You might be able to laugh about an incident that made you feel embarrassed, but not one that made you feel humiliated.
- Humiliate is much stronger than embarrass.
If I fell over my shoelaces and landed on my rump in front of you, I might be a bit embarrassed.
If I fell and my skirt flew up revealing I had on no underwear, and did this while performing live at the Superbowl, an event broadcast to millions, and the pictures were on the front page of newspapers around the world, I would be humiliated.
- Humiliation is more personal and deliberate than embarrassment.
Humiliation seems to me to be purposely making someone look small, weak, or incompetent.
Embarrassment can happen by accident. It may not directly involve the person being embarrassed at all.
It's hard to imagine kids humiliating a parent in public compared to embarrassing a parent in public.
To humiliate a parent the children would actually have to do something or say something to the parent on purpose. It seems to me to involve a combination of hatred, cleverness, and maybe even planning that children don't normally possess -- at least until they get considerably past being "kids".
To embarrass a parent the children might only need to behave badly (skateboarding through the aisles of a supermarket, screaming or laughing in church, etc.) or ask a stranger a very personal question like "Is that a wig you're wearing?"
get embarrassed vs get humiliated ?
(Dear teachers.
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