The word ‘shame’ once covered much of the ground now parcelled out between ‘embarrassment’ and ‘humiliation’. ‘Embarrassment’ and ‘humiliation’ are words that have evolved only recently into their current senses.
The feelings of embarrassment and humiliation were just not fully available before the words were. ‘Shame’ was once a very general word, and that ‘humiliation’ and ‘embarrassment’ have since differentiated themselves. Does one hear of embarrassment in Shakespeare’s
i.e Coriolanus ‘Sit Coriolanus; never shame to hear what you have nobly done’)
Coriolanus feels shame to be reminded of what he has nobly done. We now call that embarrassment
The feelings of embarrassment and humiliation were just not fully available before the words were. ‘Shame’ was once a very general word, and that ‘humiliation’ and ‘embarrassment’ have since differentiated themselves. Does one hear of embarrassment in Shakespeare’s
i.e Coriolanus ‘Sit Coriolanus; never shame to hear what you have nobly done’)
Coriolanus feels shame to be reminded of what he has nobly done. We now call that embarrassment
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