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Glite Dictionary
to shoot yourself in the foot

to shoot yourself in the foot

1 7.5
Cause trouble for yourself by your actions, often by accident
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : hacerse daño a uno mismo
  • Romney, at a time when he needed independents, continued to shoot himself in the foot by running misleading ads.

Like you just shot yourself in the foot.

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Examples

  • But to be doing those things and it's not even official and it's been going on for months, you are shooting yourself in the foot, OK?

    Stephan Speaks

  • You not only just shot yourself in the foot it ricocheted on the floor and hit you in the head, dummy!

    Blaze (2018)

  • And then shoot yourself in the foot.

    Northfork (2003)

  • It's so like we all know how the algorithms work and ignoring it is honestly just shooting yourself in the foot like it really is.

  • And that is going to shoot you in the foot and make you a greater magnet for married and taken men.

    Stephan Speaks

  • Unfortunately, the NNU has just come out endorsing Obama for reasons that escape me—talk about shooting yourself in the foot...

    Blog text (4)

  • Unfortunately, Smokey, it's you who has shot yourself in the foot, since, as Finn pointed out, a 100 ppm requires a sea surface temperature rise of 6°C.

    Blog text (33)

  • Without a clear strategy, he was essentially shooting himself in the foot by making poor decisions.

  • If you keep arguing with the boss, you are just shooting yourself in the foot and jeopardizing your promotion.

  • She realized that oversharing personal information at work was shooting herself in the foot professionally.

Synonyms

to shoot oneself in the foot
vsto shoot yourself in the foot
  • Informal
20 8.4

Do or say something that harms your own chances

uses informal second person pronoun instead of the impersonal form
to dig one's own grave
vsto shoot yourself in the foot
  • Informal
3 7.1

To do something that makes you fail

refers to harming interests or causing damage without necessarily causing complete failure
to burn one's fingers
vsto shoot yourself in the foot
  • Informal
1 8.1

Lose money or get hurt because of a mistake you make

usually results from accidental action rather than from knowingly taking a risk
to dig a hole for oneself
vsto shoot yourself in the foot
  • Informal
7.9

To cause problems for yourself because of your actions

focuses on harming personal interests or causing actual damage rather than mere difficulties
smoking one's own dope
vsto shoot yourself in the foot
  • Archaic
9.9

Acting in a way that harms you because you trust your own wrong ideas

is broader, covering harm from many kinds of actions, not only misguided beliefs
hoist by one's own petard
vsto shoot yourself in the foot
  • Literature
9.9

A plan you make to hurt other people harms you

usually involves a person harming their own interests accidentally rather than backfiring malicious plans

Antonyms

to benefit
676 2.3

To help someone or be helped by something

How Harmful

to shoot yourself in the foot
  • Informal
1 7.5
to err
50 5.5

Surface Forms

shoot yourself in the foot infinitive
shooting yourself in the foot present participle
shoots yourself in the foot third person singular
shot yourself in the foot past
shot yourself in the foot past participle

Morphology

shoot + yourself + in + the + foot

The literal image of 'shoot yourself in the foot' clearly evokes causing harm to oneself, so a learner who knows the words could infer a general self-damaging idea. However, the specific pragmatic meaning — harming your own interests through one's actions, often unintentionally or through poor decisions — is a figurative extension that is not fully predictable from the parts alone, making it partially but not fully transparent (and similar metaphors exist in some other languages, increasing partial recognizability).

Etymology

Shoot yourself in the foot comes from the image of someone who literally shoots their own foot, hurting themselves and stopping their progress. That's why it means 'to harm your own interests' by your own actions, often by mistake.