This is clearly not one of Edgar Allen Poe’s ravens…When I saw this I instantly thought of the phrase above which means humiliation by admitting wrongness or having been proven wrong after taking a strong position
according to Wikepedia. If you are interested in the origin of slang phrases, Wikepedia has one take while this other site has another (scroll 1/4 way down the page), dating it back to a truce during the war of 1812.
Anyhow, I find this photo is strangely alluring…
Found one more definition worth noting for the tasty spread of synonyms as well as the interesting source from which it hails, The Moby Thesaurus II (Moby Project) by Grady Ward:
26 Moby Thesaurus words for “eat crow”: abjure, back down, back out, backwater, climb down, crawfish out, deny, disavow, disclaim, disown, eat dirt, eat humble pie, forswear, kiss the rod, lick the dust, recant, renege, renounce, repudiate, retract, revoke, sing small, swallow, take back, unsay, withdraw
One a somewhat related note, writer/hacker Joshua Klein shares his fascination with crows at TED talk this year.
That was well worth 10 minutes, Mahalie. Thank you!
Mr. Klein illustrates that crows can be taught and proposes that they be taught to do useful (and mutually beneficial) things for the planet. Fascinating and very inspiring.