Dictionary
Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.
rod for one's back en · NOUN
Pronunciation
Meanings
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(idiomatic) The means of one's own punishment or downfall.
"Silcote, you are making a rod for your back in your treatment of that child. She'll live to break your heart for you."
1866 Sept, Henry Kingsley, “Silcote of Silcotes”, in MacMillan's Magazine, volume 14, page 324:I can't get over how you parents let your children run riot over you. There must be some discipline in this surely, otherwise you will make a rod for your back when they get older.
2009 February 2, Dita De Boni, “Keeping Mum: Sparing the Rod?”, in New Zealand Herald:Nobody is more wary of Tony Blair's record ratings and the illusion of the Prime Minister's omnipotence than Tony Blair himself. "He thinks his approval ratings are a rod for his back," says one adviser.
1997 October 4, John Williams, “Blair Maps Out Party's Long March”, in The Mirror, UK:
Forms
Relateds
hoist by one's own petard