Language: en
Meaning: (idiomatic)To act against one's own interests; to unintentionally behaveself-destructively.1982April, “Reagan shoots from the lip”, inBlack Enterprise, volume12, number 9, page16:but as President he frequentlyshoots himself in the foot. Some of his erroneous public statements are dillies.2007, Paul Collier,The bottom billion: why the poorest countries are failing and what can be done about it, page85:The countries that stoppedshooting themselves in the footwere able to break into new export markets2009August,SPIN, volume25, number 8, page62:"I've always been the guy whoshoots himself in the footand squanders every opportunity," he says. "Now it's like, 'Do I throw it all away — or just try?'"2020April 9,Gaby Hinsliff, “We used to moan about normal life, now our fear is we'll never get it back”, inThe Guardian[1]:The fear is that the economic aftermath of this crisis, like the virus itself, might be toughest on those with pre-existing conditions – including otherwise thriving western countries choosing this moment in history toshoot themselves in the foot.2022February 7, Peter Stone, “Trump's incendiary Texas speech may have deepened his legal troubles, experts say”, inThe Guardian[2], archived fromthe originalon12 November 2022:Dennis Aftergut, a former federal prosecutor who is of counsel to Lawyers Defending American Democracy, told the Guardian that Trump "may haveshot himself in the foot" with the comments. "Criminal intent can be hard to prove, but when a potential defendant says something easily seen as intimidating or threatening to those investigating the case it becomes easier," Aftergut said.
No examples available.
Validation Count: 0
Sourced from Wiktionary