to paint (oneself) into a corner
8
7.4
- idiom
- Informal
:
meterse en un lío
- The partisan majority of the Florida Supreme Court had painted itself into a corner.
- really painted yourself into a corner
- actually painted yourself into a corner
- get painted into a corner
Examples
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You have literally painted yourself into a corner.
Blog text (25) -
Looks like you've painted yourself into a corner.
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Father has now painted himself into a corner.
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Israel does not believe it has painted itself into a corner.
Blog text (23) -
With this story, Mad Men had painted itself into a corner.
Blog text (28) -
A big problem right now is that Walker and the D Senators are both painted into a corner.
Blog text (27) -
The problem here, it seems to me, is that we've painted ourselves into a corner.
Blog text (10) -
Rationalizing is a bit like lying; it is easy to paint yourself into a corner.
Blog text (16) -
Either way, it is that utter lack of principle that has him painted into a corner, with no way out.
Blog text (29) -
After making promises he couldn't keep, he realized he had painted himself into a corner.
Synonyms
1
7.8
To leave someone with few or no good choices
To cause problems for yourself because of your actions
Do something that causes trouble for yourself later
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
paint + (oneself) + into + a + corner
The expression evokes a clear literal image—painting oneself into a corner so one cannot leave—so the connection between constituents ('paint' + 'into' + 'corner') and the idea of trapping oneself is metaphorically transparent and visually inferable. However, the idiomatic extension to ‘creating a situation with no easy way out’ requires pragmatic inference beyond simple composition and may not be fully predictable for a B1 learner without exposure, so it is best classified as semi-transparent.
Etymology
The idiom paint (oneself) into a corner comes from a simple image of a painter who paints a floor and keeps working until they are stuck by wet paint in a corner, with no dry place to step. So it means 'to put yourself in a difficult situation with no easy way out'.