洋相

yángxiàng
noun #31,097

Meanings

  1. 1 social blunder
  2. 2 embarrassing display
  3. 3 faux pas

Examples

Tā zài wǎnhuì shàng chū le dà yángxiàng.
He made a fool of himself at the party.
Qiānwàn bié zài kèrén miànqián chū yángxiàng.
Whatever you do, don't embarrass yourself in front of the guests.

Tips

usage
洋相 almost always appears in the verb-object pair 出洋相 ('to make a fool of oneself / put on an embarrassing show'). The ('foreign/Western') in 洋相 hints at the term's origin — historically, gawking at things 'foreign and out of place'. Today it just means a public embarrassment, with the gawking onlookers as the implied audience.
memory
Literally 'foreign appearance / Western look' — picture someone tripping over themselves trying to act sophisticated and ending up looking ridiculous instead. That mismatch is exactly the feel of 出洋相.

Stroke Order

yáng
xiāng