洋相

yángxiàng
noun #31,097

Meanings

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

Examples

HSK 2
Tā zài wǎnhuì shàng chū le dà yángxiàng.
He made a fool of himself at the party.
HSK 3
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