shoot oneself in the foot

shoot oneself in the foot

1. (idiomatic) To act against one's own interests; to unintentionally behave self-destructively.
   • 1982 April, “Reagan shoots from the lip‎”, in Black Enterprise, volume 12, number 9, page 16:

     but as President he frequently shoots 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, page 85:

     The countries that stopped shooting themselves in the foot were able to break into new export markets

   • 2009 August, SPIN‎, volume 25, number 8, page 62:

     "I've always been the guy who shoots himself in the foot and squanders every opportunity," he says. "Now it's like, 'Do I throw it all away — or just try?'"

• footgun
• own goal
• hoist by one's own petard