"paint oneself into a corner" meaning in English

{
  "etymology_text": "From the idea that a person painting the floor of a room may inadvertently apply the paint over the whole floor so as to trap the person in a corner away from any exit, so that to leave the room the person has no choice but to step on the fresh paint and damage it.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "paints oneself into a corner",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "painting oneself into a corner",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "painted oneself into a corner",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "painted oneself into a corner",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "paint oneself into a corner (third-person singular simple present paints oneself into a corner, present participle painting oneself into a corner, simple past and past participle painted oneself into a corner)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "hyphenation": [
    "paint"
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2001, Carolyn R. Russell, “Introduction”, in The Films of Joel and Ethan Coen, Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, pages 3–4",
          "text": "The Coens [Coen brothers] write their screenplays in a manner as unorthodox as the films that result from them. […] They paint themselves into a corner, plotwise, then perform whatever literary gymnastics are necessary in order to paint themselves out.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2007, Risa B. Sodi, “Giuliana Tedeschi: Wife, Mother, Survivor”, in Narrative & Imperative: The First Fifty Years of Italian Holocaust Writing (1944–1994), New York, N.Y.: Peter Lang Publishing, page 141",
          "text": "[Giuliana] Tedeschi thus rejects the mythicization of the Holocaust, in her book and in others'. By claiming a separate, privileged space for documentary writing and survivor nonfiction, she in effect paints herself into a corner, forced thereafter to deny the presence—even the abundance—of literary tropes and writerly devices in her own work.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2009, Vivian Liska, “Introduction: Uncommon Communities”, in When Kafka Says We: Uncommon Communities in German-Jewish Literature, Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University Press",
          "text": "In his diary entry from 8 January 1914, Franz Kafka writes: \"What have I in common with Jews? I have hardly anything in common with myself and should stand very quietly in a corner, content that I can breathe\" […] [T]his corner could also, tragically, describe the place where Kafka feels he should position himself, painting himself into a corner, into a dead end, where nothing but bare life stripped of all existential substance and support can subsist.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011, Hillel Glazer, “The Man versus the Money”, in High Performance Operations: Leverage Compliance to Lower Costs, Increase Profits, and Gain Competitive Advantage, Upper Saddle River, N.J.: FT Press, pages 57–58",
          "text": "Executives and businesses are often painted into a corner. They unwittingly lock themselves and their companies into a rigid bureaucratic way of dealing with rules, regulations, and compliance matters.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To create a predicament or problem for oneself; to do something that leaves one with no good alternatives or solutions."
      ],
      "id": "en-paint_oneself_into_a_corner-en-verb-ivI773mZ",
      "links": [
        [
          "predicament",
          "predicament"
        ],
        [
          "problem",
          "problem"
        ],
        [
          "leaves",
          "leave#Verb"
        ],
        [
          "good",
          "good#Adjective"
        ],
        [
          "alternative",
          "alternative"
        ],
        [
          "solution",
          "solution"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To create a predicament or problem for oneself; to do something that leaves one with no good alternatives or solutions."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "back oneself into a corner"
        },
        {
          "word": "box oneself into a corner"
        },
        {
          "word": "get oneself into a corner"
        },
        {
          "word": "talk oneself into a corner"
        },
        {
          "word": "write oneself into a corner"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "da",
          "lang": "Danish",
          "sense": "to create a predicament or problem for oneself",
          "word": "male sig selv op i et hjørne"
        },
        {
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "to create a predicament or problem for oneself",
          "word": "jezelf in de hoek schilderen"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "to create a predicament or problem for oneself",
          "word": "maalata itsensä nurkkaan"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "to create a predicament or problem for oneself",
          "tags": [
            "Quebec"
          ],
          "word": "se peinturer dans un coin"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "to create a predicament or problem for oneself",
          "word": "essere con le spalle al muro"
        },
        {
          "code": "nb",
          "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
          "sense": "to create a predicament or problem for oneself",
          "word": "male seg inn i et hjørne"
        },
        {
          "code": "nn",
          "lang": "Norwegian Nynorsk",
          "sense": "to create a predicament or problem for oneself",
          "word": "måle seg inn i eit hjørne"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "to create a predicament or problem for oneself",
          "tags": [
            "colloquial"
          ],
          "word": "meterse en un berenjenal"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "to create a predicament or problem for oneself",
          "tags": [
            "colloquial"
          ],
          "word": "meterse en un jardín"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "to create a predicament or problem for oneself",
          "word": "meterse en la boca del lobo"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈpeɪnt wʌnsɛlf ɪntʊ ə ˈkɔɹnɚ/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈpeɪnt wʌnsɛlf ɪntʊ ə ˈkɔːnə(ɹ)/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈpeɪnt wʌnsɛlf ɪntu ə ˈkɔɹnɚ/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-au-paint oneself into a corner.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/c/ce/En-au-paint_oneself_into_a_corner.ogg/En-au-paint_oneself_into_a_corner.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/En-au-paint_oneself_into_a_corner.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "paint oneself into a corner"
}

{
  "etymology_text": "From the idea that a person painting the floor of a room may inadvertently apply the paint over the whole floor so as to trap the person in a corner away from any exit, so that to leave the room the person has no choice but to step on the fresh paint and damage it.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "paints oneself into a corner",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "painting oneself into a corner",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "painted oneself into a corner",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "painted oneself into a corner",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "paint oneself into a corner (third-person singular simple present paints oneself into a corner, present participle painting oneself into a corner, simple past and past participle painted oneself into a corner)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "hyphenation": [
    "paint"
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
        "English terms with audio links",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2001, Carolyn R. Russell, “Introduction”, in The Films of Joel and Ethan Coen, Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, pages 3–4",
          "text": "The Coens [Coen brothers] write their screenplays in a manner as unorthodox as the films that result from them. […] They paint themselves into a corner, plotwise, then perform whatever literary gymnastics are necessary in order to paint themselves out.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2007, Risa B. Sodi, “Giuliana Tedeschi: Wife, Mother, Survivor”, in Narrative & Imperative: The First Fifty Years of Italian Holocaust Writing (1944–1994), New York, N.Y.: Peter Lang Publishing, page 141",
          "text": "[Giuliana] Tedeschi thus rejects the mythicization of the Holocaust, in her book and in others'. By claiming a separate, privileged space for documentary writing and survivor nonfiction, she in effect paints herself into a corner, forced thereafter to deny the presence—even the abundance—of literary tropes and writerly devices in her own work.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2009, Vivian Liska, “Introduction: Uncommon Communities”, in When Kafka Says We: Uncommon Communities in German-Jewish Literature, Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University Press",
          "text": "In his diary entry from 8 January 1914, Franz Kafka writes: \"What have I in common with Jews? I have hardly anything in common with myself and should stand very quietly in a corner, content that I can breathe\" […] [T]his corner could also, tragically, describe the place where Kafka feels he should position himself, painting himself into a corner, into a dead end, where nothing but bare life stripped of all existential substance and support can subsist.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011, Hillel Glazer, “The Man versus the Money”, in High Performance Operations: Leverage Compliance to Lower Costs, Increase Profits, and Gain Competitive Advantage, Upper Saddle River, N.J.: FT Press, pages 57–58",
          "text": "Executives and businesses are often painted into a corner. They unwittingly lock themselves and their companies into a rigid bureaucratic way of dealing with rules, regulations, and compliance matters.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To create a predicament or problem for oneself; to do something that leaves one with no good alternatives or solutions."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "predicament",
          "predicament"
        ],
        [
          "problem",
          "problem"
        ],
        [
          "leaves",
          "leave#Verb"
        ],
        [
          "good",
          "good#Adjective"
        ],
        [
          "alternative",
          "alternative"
        ],
        [
          "solution",
          "solution"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To create a predicament or problem for oneself; to do something that leaves one with no good alternatives or solutions."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈpeɪnt wʌnsɛlf ɪntʊ ə ˈkɔɹnɚ/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈpeɪnt wʌnsɛlf ɪntʊ ə ˈkɔːnə(ɹ)/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈpeɪnt wʌnsɛlf ɪntu ə ˈkɔɹnɚ/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-au-paint oneself into a corner.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/c/ce/En-au-paint_oneself_into_a_corner.ogg/En-au-paint_oneself_into_a_corner.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/En-au-paint_oneself_into_a_corner.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "back oneself into a corner"
    },
    {
      "word": "box oneself into a corner"
    },
    {
      "word": "get oneself into a corner"
    },
    {
      "word": "talk oneself into a corner"
    },
    {
      "word": "write oneself into a corner"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "da",
      "lang": "Danish",
      "sense": "to create a predicament or problem for oneself",
      "word": "male sig selv op i et hjørne"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "to create a predicament or problem for oneself",
      "word": "jezelf in de hoek schilderen"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "to create a predicament or problem for oneself",
      "word": "maalata itsensä nurkkaan"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "to create a predicament or problem for oneself",
      "tags": [
        "Quebec"
      ],
      "word": "se peinturer dans un coin"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "to create a predicament or problem for oneself",
      "word": "essere con le spalle al muro"
    },
    {
      "code": "nb",
      "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
      "sense": "to create a predicament or problem for oneself",
      "word": "male seg inn i et hjørne"
    },
    {
      "code": "nn",
      "lang": "Norwegian Nynorsk",
      "sense": "to create a predicament or problem for oneself",
      "word": "måle seg inn i eit hjørne"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "to create a predicament or problem for oneself",
      "tags": [
        "colloquial"
      ],
      "word": "meterse en un berenjenal"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "to create a predicament or problem for oneself",
      "tags": [
        "colloquial"
      ],
      "word": "meterse en un jardín"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "to create a predicament or problem for oneself",
      "word": "meterse en la boca del lobo"
    }
  ],
  "word": "paint oneself into a corner"
}