embarrassment

Somewhere, wherever he may be, Leslie Nielsen is smiling. Or laughing out loud. A city council meeting in Texas gets a little comic relief when a councilman forgets to turn off his lapel microphone as he heads off to the bathroom during the meeting...

If you're a human being, there's every chance you've had an embarrassing moment. Maybe at school, or work, or someplace with a lot of people around. If you've had it happen to you, perhaps watching it happen to this poor guy, during the changing of the guard in London, will give you that "misery loves company" feeling we all get from time to time...

There are many examples of average, ordinary people embarrassing themselves on a game show by giving goofy, weird, or just plain stupid answers to questions posed by the host. Let's add another person to the big list of red-faced contestants...

Alright, maybe you're not, but lots of us apparently are--at least when travelling overseas. Our expressions, gestures, even basic body language can be misconstrued by the native populace around the world, leaving us looking a bit like the guy above...