观时事 识英文
Shoot oneself in the foot
加拿大
最近，英国议会下院投票否决“脱欧”协议，特雷莎·梅政府遭遇滑铁卢。西方媒体称Britain shot itself in the foot with Brexit（英国“脱欧”，自找麻烦）。
Shoot oneself in the foot（自找麻烦，反受其害）这一习语源自何处，各说不一。一说是一战士兵为当逃兵，开枪自伤其脚，也有人说是美国旧时西部牛仔拔枪太快，走火伤脚。时至今日，这个习语的语义已经有所演变，柯林斯英语词典的释义是to damage one's own cause inadvertently，剑桥英语词典的释义是to do something without intendingto which spoils a situation for yourself，朗文当代英语词典的释义是to say or do something stupid that will cause you a lot of trouble。Shoot oneself in the foot与中文习语 “搬起石头砸自己的脚”类似，其用法如：Trump shoots himself in the foot on tariffs and trade（在关税贸易问题上，川普搬起石头砸了自己的脚）。又如：The Federal government seems to have shot itself in the foot over this issue（联邦政府在这个问题上好像搬起石头砸了自己的脚）。再如：“If we just let him keep talking, soon he's going to shoot himself in the foot.”
