The English word embarrassed has taken an unusual path into English. The first written usage of embarrass in English was in 1664 by Samuel Pepys in his diary. The word was derived from the French word embarrasser, “to block,” or “obstruct”,1 whose first recorded usage was by Michel de Montaigne in 1580. The French word was derived from the Spanish embarazar, whose first recorded usage was in 1460 in Cancionero de Stúñiga (Songbook of Stúñiga) by Álvaro de Luna.2 The Spanish word comes from the Portuguese embaraçar, which is a combination of the prefix em- (from Latin im- for “in-”) with baraço or baraça, “a noose”, or “rope”.3 Baraça originated before the Romans began their conquest of thy Iberian Peninsula in 218 BC.4 Thus, baraça could be related to the Celtic word barr, “tuft.” (Celtic people actually settled much of Spain and Portugal beginning in the 700s BC, the second group of people to do so.)5 However, it certainly is not directly derived from it, as the substitution of r for rr in Ibero-Romantic languages was not a known occurrence.
Some say the Spanish word actually came from the Italian imbarazzare, from imbarazzo, “obstacle” or “obstruction.” That word came from imbarrare, “to block,” or “bar,” which is a combination of in-, “in” with barra, “bar” (from the Vulgar Latin barra, which is of unknown origin).6 The problem with this theory is that the first known usage of the word in Italian was by Bernardo Davanzati (1529-1606), long after the word had entered Spanish.7
Embarazada (IPA [embaɾa'θað̞a] or [embaɾa'sað̞a]) is the Spanish word for pregnant. It is a notorious false friend for non-native students of Spanish. Attempting to say “I’m embarrassed” by saying “estoy embarazada” means “I’m pregnant” in Spanish. This may be confusing or baffling when said by a man, and potentially embarrassing.
When Parker Pen entered the Mexican market, its advertisements claimed that Parker Pens “won’t leak in your pocket and embarrass you” was mistranslated as saying they “won’t leak in your pocket and impregnate you”.1 Another error would be to say “Soy embarazada” which means something like “I am a pregnant kind of woman”.2 The use of ser / soy implies a permanent state, while estar / estoy indicates something is a change from before.
Confusion may also arise through the use of the phrase tengo vergüenza (meaning “I have shame”) or the more correct phrases me da vergüenza or estoy avergonzado (idiomatically meaning “I am embarrassed”, “I am ashamed”, or “I am bashful”).3 Yet, in Spanish, there also exists the adjective embarazoso, meaning exactly the same as “embarrassing” in its denotation of something that causes a sensation of unease, but not of shame.4 Complicating the issue further, embarazada can sometimes also mean “hampered”, or “hindered”.5 This more closely mirrors the original meaning of the English word embarrass.6