Shoot Yourself in the Foot

To shoot yourself in the foot means to sabotage your own chances.  People might do something foolish that harms their ability to succeed at something.  Shooting yourself in the foot can also be applied in a situation where someone accidentally makes a situation worse for their self.

Example:  She was going to pass the course, but she shot herself in the foot by not studying hard enough.
Example:  Did you hear that he added the wrong ingredient to the soup?  He is not going to win the contest now.  He really shot himself in the foot.

     "Shooting yourself in the foot" comes from World War 1.  Some soldiers would literally shoot themselves in the foot so they could go home.  If they stayed in the war, they might die.  So shooting yourself in the foot was a cowardly way to avoid something much worse. 

      This phrase always reminds me of the American Football player, Plaxico Burress.  He was having a pretty good career.  Then, in 2008, he accidently shot himself in the leg.  He added insult to injury because he was charged with illegally carrying that gun.  Then his team suspended him without pay.  He spent 20 months in jail.  He played for a different team in 2011, but his stats were much lower.  In 2012 he was injured and that was the end of his career.  He was a very talented player, but he shot himself in the foot by shooting himself in the leg.

Can you think of a time when you shot yourself in the foot?

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