banana skin

• Expresión coloquial británica que designa un obstáculo inesperado, un error embarazoso o una situación que hace que alguien tropiece o fracase, a menudo en público o de forma humillante.

An informal British expression referring to an unexpected obstacle, embarrassing mistake, or a situation that causes someone to slip up or fail, often in a public or humiliating way.

1. Literal meaningA1formal

   The outer yellow peel of a banana fruit.

   Cáscara de plátano

   • He slipped on a banana skin left on the floor.
   • Please throw the banana skin in the compost bin.
   • The monkey peeled the banana skin with its teeth.

2. Figurative: cause of embarrassmentB2informalbritish

   An unexpected problem or situation that causes embarrassment or failure.

   causa de vergüenza

   • The politician's comment was a real banana skin for his campaign.
   • The unexpected question was a banana skin for the unprepared speaker.
   • He stepped on a banana skin when he forgot his lines during the play.