Looking back, is there an awkward small-talk moment you still cringe about?

A natural way to answer

There's one that stays with me. I congratulated a colleague on a promotion that hadn't actually happened. It was a genuine slip, but I put my foot in it badly and the whole room went quiet.

Key phrases to use

• cringe — feel embarrassed and uncomfortable, often about something you did“I cringe whenever I remember that.”
• put my foot in it — say something tactless or embarrassing by accident“I really put my foot in it at dinner.”
• laugh it off — treat an embarrassing or upsetting thing as a joke so it stops bothering you“She just laughed it off and moved on.”