"Hoist with his own petard" is a phrase from a speech in William Shakespeare's play Hamlet that has become proverbial. The phrase's meaning is that a bomb-maker is blown ("hoist", the past tense of "hoise") off the ground by his own bomb ("petard"), and indicates an ironic reversal or poetic justice.[1]
In modern vernacular usage of the idiom, the preposition "with" is commonly exchanged for a different preposition, particularly "by" (i.e. "hoist by his own petard") or "on", the implication being that the bomb has rolled back and the unfortunate bomb-maker has trodden on it by accident. The latter form is recognized by many British and American English dictionaries as an interchangeable alternative. Prepositions other than "by" and the original "with" are not widely accepted and may be seen as erroneous or even nonsensical in the correct context of the phrase.[2][3][4]
- ^ "Word of the Day: Hoise". Merriam-Webster. Archived from the original on 2020-07-30. Retrieved 2020-03-17.
- ^ "be hoist(ed) with/by your own petard". Cambridge English Dictionary. Archived from the original on 2022-09-05. Retrieved 2022-08-29.
- ^ "Hoist by your own petard definition and meaning". Collins English Dictionary. Archived from the original on 2022-09-05. Retrieved 2022-08-29.
- ^ "hoisted by his own petard". The Free Dictionary. Archived from the original on 2023-03-03. Retrieved 2023-03-03.