saving face 留面子

在英语里 to save face 的意思是想要保全面子，避免陷入难堪的局面。

例句

John was just pretending to understand the French conversation in order to save face.

The wedding speech was terrible but everyone clapped to save the best man's face.

The company director got very drunk at the annual party but no-one ever mentioned it to save his face.

请注意

To save face的反义词是to lose face, 也就是丢脸的意思。

It was a terrible loss of face when the student corrected the teacher's English in front of the whole class.

Losing your temper in public is seen as a loss of face in China.