SO embarrassing: how to let go of the most cringeworthy moments

We're living in a uniquely digital age, where almost anything of importance is captured and then either tweeted, Facebooked or Vined out to the universe.

But in a world full of share buttons and gadgets, doesn’t it seem a little unfair that we can't just hit "erase" on a few of our more embarrassing slip-ups?

The thing is, we’re all human. So unless you’ve leaked a sex tape online (a lá Cameron Diaz in her new movie, which opened last Friday), you’re going to have to learn how to give yourself a break.

In the spirit of letting go, we’ve whipped round the office to gather some of our worst whoopsie-daisies. If nothing else, maybe proof that other people have survived worse will help you:

The Red Carpet Fail
One of our lovely colleagues was granted the pleasure of attending the Elle Style Awards in recent years. More than a little bit excited, she went out and purchased a glam dress and a pair of new heels.

Everything was going fine until she was striding down the red carpet out of the event. Walking into a sea of paparazzo flashbulbs, she lost her footing in her never-before-worn shoes and went flying – face first to the ground.

The Meet-The-Parents Blunder

Meeting your boy’s parents for the first time is nerve-wracking at the best of times. You've got to remember your manners, drop the profanity… and bringing a bunch of flowers won’t go amiss.

You probably don't expect to have to remind yourself to wear clothes, right? That was the unfortunate case for one of our worker bees, whose boyfriend's dad got to meet rather a lot more of her that she'd originally planned.

The boyfriend in question had arranged for her to meet his folks for the first time during a mini-holiday. On a boat. Yes, a boat: a small, confined space with very few options of escape.

His parents were quite traditional, and thought it would be appropriate to divide the couple between two cabins, separated by the central dining area.

You can guess what happened next: Waking up at 5am, and wearing nothing but the skimpiest of lingerie sets, she tiptoed out of her cabin to visit her man – only to tiptoe straight into his dad, who was in the dining room having an early morning cuppa. You can bet your bucks the rest of the trip was torture.

The Foreign Language Mishap

One of our kindest and sweetest guy co-workers decided to take a little trip to France with a friend. His friend's nickname happens to be "Cat", which our man decided to translate (in his rudimentary French) to "chat."

He then proceeded to introduce his friend as "mon chat" to everyone he came across, receiving some giggles and some slightly perplexed looks.

He only found that "chat" is more commonly used in French as a slang term for a lady's, erm… nether-regions.

See? That’s just a tiny sampling of red-faced moments from our office. Can you imagine how many worse stories there are out there? And guess what: everyone survived to tell the tale. Go on, get that awkward story off your chest in the comments section below. If you dare!