backfire on



backfire on

To not proceed as one had planned or hoped. My plan to convince my parents that I'm responsible enough to have a car promptly backfired on me when I came home after curfew. The invading army's strategy completely backfired on them because they failed to account for the icy mountain terrain.
See also: backfire, on

backfire on someone

Fig. [for something, such as a plot] to fail unexpectedly; to fail with an undesired result. Your plot backfired on you. I was afraid that my scheme would backfire on me.
See also: backfire, on

Common Names:

NameGenderPronouncedUsage
Firdos-Arabic
ChasCHAZEnglish
IntanEEN-tahn (Indonesian)Indonesian, Malay
TraceyTRAY-seeEnglish
Aswathi-Indian, Malayalam
PiotrPYAWTRPolish