Punitive foot-shootery?
Yet another odd bit of language on mefi:
I’m looking at getting a new LCD that I’ll be using with my computer and really like the HP 2408 & LP2465. However, will I end up shooting myself in the foot for not having HDMI?
Usually, it’s the mistake itself that is evoked by the foot shot. “I really shot myself in the foot (by buying a monitor without HDMI)” is how I’d expect someone to use the phrase. But in this case, the author brings himself off as some sort of gizmo-flagellant, taking a gun to his own foot to atone for his errant hardware purchasing decisions.
Questions: did the author intend the traditional meaning and just type “for” instead of “by” as a sort of prepositional production error? Or does his analysis of the phrase resemble what I’ve interpreted above? Or somewhere between: a more generalized analysis of the phrase that allows for both uses?
Or was this a more convoluted production: the author being familiar with the common phrase but wanting to modify it to catch the future-sense nature of his question, the “what if I do this” aspect — and so, perhaps disliking the feel of something like “will I have ended up shooting myself in the foot by…” or “will I have shot myself in the foot by…”, tried a quick rewrite that hewed avoided any of that perfect-tense “have”-form stuff? Or something like that? I should probably just inquire.
And it all comes down to prepositions: “for” instead of “by” and the whole feel of the phrase changes. Consider this a late fanboy coda to Language Log’s recent National Preposition Day.
Rozendal Said,
January 19, 2008 @ 11:12 am
I go with the first interpretation. Hard to believe someone would consciously manipulate the phrase without making some sort of reference to their own cleverness (authors are like that, especially internet authors, yes?). Proposition problem is my vote.
Rozendal Said,
January 19, 2008 @ 11:13 am
Oops. “preposition” not “proposition” Don’t get going on that one, Josh.
iamkimiam Said,
February 1, 2008 @ 5:49 pm
I think that it’s an interesting example because that preposition changes the meaning from something like “a negative outcome that happens by accident or as a result of lack of foresight” to “a punishment I will be forced to inflict upon myself if I don’t pay attention” (as you suggested above). But I think you’re right in suggesting that it was probably done to avoid an awkward and lengthy tense construction.
(btw, just discovered your blog and really dig the observation-type content!)
Josh Millard Said,
February 1, 2008 @ 10:28 pm
Hiya! Thanks.
Josh Millard Said,
April 15, 2008 @ 3:34 pm
Related, from user lumpenprole at mefi: shooting themselves in the nuts. There might be a good followup on Things One Can Shoot One’s Self In, Other Than Feet if I get to googling.