Hi everyone
Suppose you've witnessed some very ebmbarrassing situation, but it wasn't your actions that were a source of embarrassment, but rather someone's else.
I tend to have this feeling very often, mostly when watching some silly TV shows, or when I see people behave in otherwise awkward way.
What is the phrase that you'd be most likely to use?
(1) I can feel a vicarious embarrassment...
(2) I can feel a second-hand embarrassment...
I think they both get the point across, but I run the risk of not being understood if I were to use the former, because of the word "vicarious", right?
Suppose you've witnessed some very ebmbarrassing situation, but it wasn't your actions that were a source of embarrassment, but rather someone's else.
I tend to have this feeling very often, mostly when watching some silly TV shows, or when I see people behave in otherwise awkward way.
What is the phrase that you'd be most likely to use?
(1) I can feel a vicarious embarrassment...
(2) I can feel a second-hand embarrassment...
I think they both get the point across, but I run the risk of not being understood if I were to use the former, because of the word "vicarious", right?