Modul 5: Idiom 51: Rub someone’s nose in it

Rub someone’s nose in it

Hi. Let’s take a look at the idiom, “Rub someone’s nose in it”. When you “rub someone’s nose in it”, then you embarrass or upset the other person by reminding them of something that they do not want to think about, such as a failure or a mistake that they have made.

For example, if you keep reminding your boss about a mistake he made last week, then you are rubbing his nose in it. Conversely, if your boss keeps talking about how you’ve ruined last week’s paperwork, then he is rubbing your nose in it. 

But what is the origin of this idiom?

The idiom has been used since the 1950s, and it originates from the questionable way of training a dog, after it did its business (ie it peed” or pooped”) in which the owner literally rubs the dog’s nose in the dog’s business.

Let’s take a look at our illustration.

Look at this picture, the dog did its business in the middle of the living room carpet. It’s owner is not happy about this so, in order to teach it a lesson, he is rubbing it’s face in it. 

Look at the face of the dog. It looks embarrassed and uncomfortable. So when you “rub someone’s nose in it”, the other person feels ashamed and embarrassed.

Here are some examples before we go to the concept questions…

“I understand that I made a mistake in counting the money, but don’t rub my nose in it.”

When Carl was a little boy, he often nicked biscuits from the cupboard, but his mum never rubbed his nose in it.

I say that if your enemy makes a mistake, then rub their nose in it.

Just to rub my nose in it, my classmates began to call me “professor” after I had failed to answer the most simple question in my math class.

After my sister’s breakup with her boyfriend, I kept sending her breakup memes just to rub her nose in.  (A meme is a video, image or text – often funny – that internet users pass on very quickly. Like this one here.)

Great.

Let’s look at some situations and check your understanding:

1.

Mike always wanted to buy a luxury car, but could never afford it. A few weeks before Christmas, his brother decided to buy himself the exact luxury car which Mike had always wanted. His brother waited until the family Christmas gathering to park his new car next to Mike’s old car. By taking this action, did Mike’s brother rub Mike’s nose in it? Yes. He was showing off to Mike that only he, Mike’s brother, could get this kind of luxury car for himself.

2.

A runner called Peter goes to a marathon race. He manages to finish first, but his friend, Lucas, is still running. Peter soon finds that Lucas has been badly injured. Peter cheers him on to finish the marathon anyway even though Lucas has fallen way behind. Does Peter rub Lucas’ nose in it? No. Peter does not embarrass him by reminding Lucas about his weak position in the race or his own winning. In fact, he helps him finish the race. 

3.

Cassie failed her biology exam. Susie, her classmate, decided to make fun of her for an entire year for this failure. Did Susie rub Cassie’s nose in it? Yes. She tried to embarrass Susie by reminding her that she was failing a test. 

4.

Maggie is walking down a crowded street. She accidentally drops her mobile phone on the ground. No one notices this but Maggie. Do the crowd rub Maggie’s nose in it? No. They did not even notice what had happened.

5.

Francis fell over and broke her arm during volleyball practice. Her friends immediately looked to help her. Did her friends rub her nose in it? No. Her friends did not make fun of her. In fact, they were supportive of her.