“Humble pie” is an Americanization of the original English expression “umble pie,” a staple in the diet of very poor people during the eleventh century.
After bringing down a deer, only the men could eat the choice meat from the kill.
Women and children were fed the innards, or the umbles, which they seasoned and baked into a pie.
To be forced to eat umble pie was to be placed among the lowest in the social order.
When humiliated, we are forced to “eat humble pie”.
