the.com/bashfulness
the body sounding a five-alarm fire when someone simply makes eye contact
means The quality of being shy, easily embarrassed, or uncomfortable in social attention.
from From "bashful," which traces back to "bash" — an old shortening of "abash," meaning to disconcert or embarrass. "Abash" itself came through Old French ("esbaïr," to astound or leave gaping) and is thought to echo an exclamation of surprise — the sound of a jaw dropping. So a bashful person is, etymologically, someone left perpetually astonished and off-balance, with the noun "-ness" simply bottling that flustered state into a thing you can possess.
- Blush origin
- Blood vessels in the face dilate involuntarily under attention
- Darwin's puzzle
- He called blushing the most peculiar human expression
- Only humans
- No other animal blushes from embarrassment
- Self-aware glitch
- Requires imagining how others perceive you
- Cooling theory
- Some research links facial flushing to thermal regulation
princess diana — visibly blushed and fidgeted during her 1981 engagement interview, earning the nickname 'the shy princess'
bill gates — notorious for awkward pauses and nervous fidgeting in early interviews and public appearances in the 1980s-90s
keanu reeves — famous for soft-spoken demeanor, long pauses, and visible discomfort during interviews and public events