What’s the meaning of “Darsi la zappa sui piedi”?

In this short lesson, we will learn the meaning of the Italian saying Darsi la zappa sui piedi along with its pronunciation. If you often end up hurting yourself unintentionally, this idiom is for you.

Let’s start! Iniziamo!

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Darsi la zappa sui piedi

Meaning of the expression

Darsi la zappa sui piedi can be literally translated as “to give yourself the hoe on your feet”. It means to hurt yourself when you don’t mean to. If you make a decision out of haste and without thinking, you may end up hurting yourself.

It comes from zappa, which means hoe, and piedi, which means feet. Darsi is a reflexive verb with the meaning “to give oneself”. A variant of this saying is tirarsi la zappa sui piedi, from tirare, to throw.

This is the equivalent of the Italian equivalent of the English saying to shoot yourself in the foot.

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Pronunciation of Darsi la zappa sui piedi in Italian

Now let’s hear how this proverb is pronounced.

For example, you could say…

Accettando l’offerta, Enrico si è dato la zappa sui piedi.
By accepting the offer, Enrico shot himself in the foot.

Imagine a farmer who’s hoeing a field. He’s tired, or maybe he’s in a hurry. He makes a mistake and suddenly hits his foot with the hoe…

And that’s the end of our lesson on the Italian saying Darsi la zappa sui piedi!

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