Kicking Myself
Video Regrets
Today we tried filming the first YouTube video for board games. I say, “we tried” because I made a mistake. I’m kicking myself for that mistake. There is a lot that goes into every video: lighting, set design, framing, sound, video, editing, organizing, and many other things. For this video, I had a two camera set up. I had an overhead camera and a main camera along with an external audio recorder. I pressed record on the overhead camera. I pressed record on the external audio recorder. But I forgot to press record on the main camera. It was really frustrating. I think I’ll need to re-record it later.
Meaning
Kicking yourself is about regret. Maybe you are disappointed in yourself for not taking an opportunity or for doing something foolish. It compares emotional pain to physical pain. You may also hear people saying, “don’t kick yourself over it” as a way to say, “don’t feel bad about it.” I think it is more common to say, “don’t beat yourself up about it.” However, the similarity is clear.
Example: I am kicking myself for not asking him out while he was single.
Origin
There doesn’t seem to be much information on the origin of the phrase. Etymonline dates it to 1891. From what I can tell, it is simply alluding to hurting yourself in a figurative sense. I think that is a good explanation of what regret feels like, hurting yourself.
See Also: Put your best foot forward, lament, drop the ball, only human
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