From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishshoot yourself in the footshoot yourself in the footSTUPID/NOT SENSIBLEto say or do something stupid that will cause you a lot of trouble If he keeps talking, pretty soon he’ll shoot himself in the foot. → shoot
Examples from the Corpus
shoot yourself in the foot• If we just let him keep talking, pretty soon he's going to shoot himself in the foot.• Yet when Labour's prospects are rosiest, it always seems to shoot itself in the foot.• But at the end of the day, they could end up shooting themselves in the foot.• So they shot themselves in the foot.• This is another classic example of our ability to shoot ourselves in the feet.• Conceptually, the worst crime committed here is that the story shoots itself in the foot by making the political too personal.• Men shot themselves in the foot, like in wartime.• He certainly shot himself in the foot, pulling out of Glastonbury and playing Finsbury Park.• A classic case of shooting ourselves in the foot, the chairman, Sir Alan Cockshaw, admitted ruefully yesterday.• Once again, the government has shot itself in the foot -- this time by reducing widows' pensions. 