1. Getting a mother and daughter back to front and letting them know.

2. When a wedding guest says that he's a Homicide detective and you reply with 'oh, you get to see the worst of people'.

3. Calling your sister 'fatty boomsticks' when she's 4 months pregnant - you're only joking but the house still comes crashing down around your ears.

4. You smoke six cigars in a row just like they were cigarettes, all the while ignoring the advice of friends around you and subsequently turning green for three days.

5. Putting your hands over the eyes of a friend and saying 'guess who' only to find that it's a stranger who you've never met before and they sincerely believe you're cracking onto them.

6. Responding to being pinched on the bum by other women at Mardi Gras by saying 'ouch' a tad too loudly and being surrounded by laughter.

7. Asking a handmade glass, gemstone and pearl jewellery designer whether the crystals are plastic.

8. Getting caught up in a laughing fit in public that makes you cry and no one else is finding the joke that funny.

9. Saying to an American how you understand that Canadians resent being called American - just like New Zealanders don't like being called Australians but try explaining that after insulting the American!

10. Telling a friend the five reasons you didn't buy the particular model of computer only to find out they bought it at top of the market price.

We all make mistakes, we all embarrass ourselves but hopefully it provides entertainment to others and us down the track. So take the sting out of the cringe and have a laugh at the humanness of it all.