so or because?

[嘟嘟嘟嘟]

About 5000 years ago the ancient Egyptians used to punish criminals by knocking out a front tooth. Unfortunately, honest people that knocked their front out accidentally must have been embarrassed by this ________ they dared not smile as they usually did.

For the blank, is "so" or "because" suitable considering the context? Thanks for help!

 

[MikeNewYork]

So would work. Because would not.

 

[嘟嘟嘟嘟]

So would work. Because would not.

What if in the sense that honest people were embarrassed by not daring to smile as they usually did? Does "because"work in that way?

 

[MikeNewYork]

"Because" still doesn't work.

 

[Raymott]

What if in the sense that honest people were embarrassed by not daring to smile as they usually did? Does "because"work in that way?

Yes, you can make sense of the sentence with "because". But they weren't embarrassed by not daring to smile. They were embarrassed by having lost a tooth.
"They must have been embarrassed because they dared not smile" doesn't mean what you say. It means "We can deduce that they must have been embarrassed, because they dared not smile."

Compare: "He must have been bad because he's sitting in the 'naughty corner'." This doesn't mean that the reason he was bad was because he is sitting in the 'naughty corner'.

 

[嘟嘟嘟嘟]

Yes, you can make sense of the sentence with "because". But they weren't embarrassed by not daring to smile. They were embarrassed by having lost a tooth.
"They must have been embarrassed because they dared not smile" doesn't mean what you say. It means "We can deduce that they must have been embarrassed, because they dared not smile."

Compare: "He must have been bad because he's sitting in the 'naughty corner'." This doesn't mean that the reason he was bad was because he is sitting in the 'naughty corner'.

Thanks for your reply, which is reasonable enough for me. Then what about the option "so"? I don't think it proper to use "so" in the context since "must have been" is presented here, which could be the mark of a deduction. What do you think?

 

[MikeNewYork]

"So" simply means that the ending follows logically from the beginning. In your sentence, it does.

 

[Polyester]

Can I use "with" here?

 

[Rover_KE]

No. That makes no sense at all.