English

Noun

fish-eating grin ‎(plural fish-eating grins)

1. (idiomatic) A broad smile indicating self-awareness that may suggest self-satisfaction, smugness, discomfort, or embarrassment.
   • 2002, Brian Cruver, Anatomy of greed: The Unshredded Truth from an Enron Insider, ISBN 9780786710935, p. 337:

     I had a few questions for him myself, but I just stood there and stared. He had a fish-eating grin on his face.

   • 2008, Joel Stratte-McClure, The Idiot and the Odyssey: Walking the Mediterranean, ISBN 9780977586653, :

     Then the Gypsy makes a crack about my accent. "You talk like a Spanish cow," he says with a fish-eating grin.

Synonyms

• ****-eating grin