"This is somewhat an embarrassment"

Anonymous"This is somewhat of an embarrasment"

I find this statement neither awkward nor necessarily informal. It is common, though.

AnonymousIs this correct?"This is somewhat an embarrassment"Or does it have be this:"This is somewhat of an embarrasment"The latter actually sounds more awkward and "informal" to me, but possibly correct. (Of course the "somewhat" is already informal and awkward, but the combination sounds more so.)

The usual phrase is:

This is something of

AnonymousThe usual phrase is:This is something of an embarrassment

Not in my conversations.

eg.

1. I am at lunch with friends. We have just finished eating, and the waiter comes with the check.
I say, "This is somewhat embarrassing. I left my wallet at home. Can someone lend me $10?"

2. We are at a party. Johnny,

I want "somewhat" instead of "something" because of its quantifying meaning, comparable to "to some extent".

I am undecided because "somewhat of an embarrassment" is slower, and because I can't actually rationally comprehend the construction of "somewhat of" (so I find it awkward). It can only be understood without the quantifying meaning and then would make more sense as "something of".

AlpheccaStars AnonymousThe usual phrase is:This is something of an embarrassmentNot in my conversations.eg. 1. I am at lunch with friends. We have just finished eating, and the waiter comes with the check.I say, "This is somewhat embarrassing. I left my wallet at home. Can someone lend me $10?"2. We are at a party. Johnny, 6 years old, keeps yelling and pulling on his mot

Anonymous"This is something of an embarrassment" scores more hits than "This is somewhat of an embarrassment". That's why I said usual.

But one assumes that AS uses 'somewhat', which is why she said "Not in my conversations"

Anonymous"This is somewhat an embarrassment" is not standard English.

Fine,

Anonymou