Reader Question:

“I hate to burst your bubble but you are not welcome here.”

Could you explain “burst one’s bubble”?

My comments: Bursting one’s bubble is disappointing them or letting them down. Other common expressions are “rain on one’s parade” and “bring down to earth”. Another way to open up the example above would be to say, “I hate to break it to you, but…”

Here are some examples:

-A guy has his eyes on a really cute girl at school and wants to date her. A friend of his says, “I hate to burst your bubble, but she already has a boyfriend.”

-A woman trying on a pair of jeans in a change room is delighted to find out that she can fit into a size 4 pair of jeans rather than her usual size 6. The sales woman will “burst her bubble” when she tells her the wrong tag was on the jeans and they are actually a size 6.

-A man walks into a car dealership to purchase that sports car he’s had his eye on for awhile. The sales man will deliver some bad news when he says, “That car was sold last week; sorry to burst your bubble”.