painting oneself into a corner
Creating inescapable predicaments
Painting oneself into a corner is creating a situation where you've eliminated your own options or escape routes.
The image is literal: a careless painter working toward the room's only exit finds themselves trapped, waiting for the floor to dry.
The phrase describes self-inflicted predicaments arising from poor planning: By publicly refusing to negotiate, the senator had painted himself into a corner.
- Catch-22Self-defeating logical trap
- between a rock and a hard placeFacing only bad options
- deadlockMutual blocking, no progress
- predicamentDifficult, unpleasant situation
- impasseSituation without resolution
cul-de-sac · quagmire · hoist with one's own petard · gridlock · making one's bed and lying in it · stalemate · biting off more than one can chew · snare · cutting off one's nose to spite one's face · brainstorming · bottleneck · bind · creative thinking · lateral thinking · damage control · hamstrung · compromise · negotiation
painting oneself into a cornerkeeping one's options open
Maintaining multiple possibilities
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