What's in a Name?

I thought I was just being clever in naming my blog "Humble Pie a la Mode." I really didn't know that origin of "humble pie." So I did what all good people of an academic bent do, I went to the Oxford English Dictionary. But by the time I'd found out the beginnings of humble pie, I'd already found this cool photograph through flickr* and I couldn't give it up. So, the name stayed. And with apologies to the vegetarians and the squeamish of stomach in my life, I'll share with you what I found out.

Humble Pie, according to the OED.

1. = UMBLE PIE, a pie made of the ‘umbles’ or inwards of a deer (or other animal). Obs.

a1648 DIGBY Closet Open. (1677) 203 To season Humble-Pyes. [1822 T. L. PEACOCK Maid Marian 241 Robin helped him largely to numble-pie..and the other dainties of his table.]

2. to eat humble pie: to be very submissive; to apologize humbly; to submit to humiliation.
[From HUMBLE a., perh. with jocular reference to sense 1 here. Cf. to eat rue-pie (Lincolnsh.) to rue, repent.]

1830 Forby's Voc. E. Anglia App. 432 ‘To make one eat humble pie’ i.e. To make him lower his tone, and be submissive. It may possibly be derived from the umbles of the deer, which were the perquisite of the huntsman; and if so, it should be written umble-pie, the food of inferiors. 1847-78 HALLIWELL s.v., To eat humble pie, to be very submissive, var. dial. 1855 THACKERAY Newcomes I. xiv. 136 You must get up and eat humble pie this morning, my boy. 1863 READE Hard Cash xlii, ‘The scornful Dog’, had to eat wormwood pudding and humble pie. 1871 J. C. JEAFFRESON Ann. Oxford I. xiv. 224 The town had..to eat a considerable amount of humble pie. 1883 HOWELLS Register ii, Trying to think what was the very humblest pie I could eat.

b. In other analogous expressions.

1862 SALA Seven Sons II. ix. 217 The staple in the bill of fare was Humble Pie. 1895 Times 9 Jan. 4/1 To sue for peace when further resistance becomes hopeless is a kind of ‘humble pie’ that fate has condemned all vanquished nations to swallow from time immemorial.

I promise you I was completely unaware of the first definition.

My intention was more the latter definitions, but not entirely. I also meant to reference humility and taking what you've got and doing the best with it that you can. Humility with ice cream.

I guess the joke's on me with that innards bit, huh?

In a funny way though, the definition demonstrates my point beautifully. I was being cheeky, and I got served my very own plate of humble, from the first entry.


*photo credit to cobalt123