The Old Girl doesn't often make mistakes but when she does they can be real doozies.
These often take the form of indiscrete statements or 'Foot in the Mouth' comments.
"put your foot in your mouth"
To put Your Foot In Your Mouth ( say something embarrassing ... )
You "put your foot in your mouth" when you say something that makes a person feel embarrassed. Example: "Last night I was telling a joke, and I really put my foot in my mouth. I had no idea I was talking about Rob's wife." You can imagine how embarrassed you would feel and how funny you would look if you actually "put your foot in your mouth." Example: "I am so embarrassed. Are you sure he could hear me when I was talking in the next room?" Reply: "Yes. You really put your foot in your mouth." Note: The word "foot" is always singular when you say "foot in your mouth". Example: "Let's all be very careful what we say at the meeting tomorrow. I don't want anyone putting their foot in their mouth." When you say something which makes someone feel embarrassed or causes an embarrassing situation, you have "put your foot in your mouth."
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Here are some memorable ones that The Old Girl has come out with:
1. The work colleague.
Some time ago one of my executive colleagues was engaged to a real prat. This guy, the prat, was full of himself - a preening 'look at me' type - probably a narcissisist. At a company function in a very large venue, as The Old Girl and I were circulating and making polite conversation we spoke to my colleague who was on her own. We said "where's So and So (the fiancee)?". The Colleague put on a sad face and said "I've lost him". The Old Girl immediately said "never mind, he was a jerk, you're better off without him". The colleague looked at her quizzically and said "I've lost him in the room somewhere - he was over there before". We beat a hasty retreat with the Old Girl hiding her shamed face against my chest.
2. The business associates
A couple of years ago I was working on a project. The wife of the chairman of the project was a bit hoity-toity and The Old Girl didn't like her. At a dinner where all the people on the project were gathered we were sitting next to a project member and his wife. The Old Girl said to them "I'm pleased we're not sitting next to 'her highness' over there" pointing to the chairman's wife. I tried to kick her under the table but missed as I knew that these people were best friends of the chairman's wife.
3. The friend.
When having drinks with an old friend who has had some health problems, he told us that he was having some minor surgery to establish whether a lump was cancerous. The Old Girl said cheerfully "I guess the autopsy will show pretty quickly if it is clear or not". We all went quiet. She meant 'biopsy'.
Luckily our friend has a good sense of humour and we all laughed about the error.
The Old Girl. I love her and her quirks.
