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Reader question: Please explain this sentence, particularly “egg on the face”: Jeremy Corbyn says Boris Johnson has “egg on his face” and “serious questions to answer” after Porton Down was not able to prove the nerve agent used to poison ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia was made in Russia. My comments: Jeremy Corbyn is the leader of the British Labour Party. Boris Johnson is the British Foreign Secretary. Here, Corbyn says Johnson should be ashamed of himself because the latter made a faulty claim (that the nerve agent used to poison ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia was made in Russia). That claim was not backed up by evidence, which is why Corbyn says Johnson has “egg on the face”. In other words, Johnson does not look good making a mistake like that. Anyways, “egg on the face” is the idiom to learn, an idiom of American origin. Some believe “egg on the face” originates from the ordinary dining table, where a careless eater leaves the table with pieces of egg on his or her face. Some believe the idiom may have originated in rowdy theatres where members from a disgruntled audience throw eggs at bad performers, forcing them to quit. Either way, he who does something and ends up with egg on his face does not look good. In other words, he has not done a neat, tidy and impeccable job. He’s blundered and gaffed and made fool of himself. He’s not passed the test with flying colors, so to speak. Instead of having gained a feather in the cap, he’s got a terrible black eye. | 
