2425 / 4988

Salir el tiro por la culata

To backfire / To go badly wrong

Idioms & Sayings
Notes & Usage:

Literally 'for the shot to exit through the butt of the gun'. Describes a plan or action that produces the opposite of the intended effect.

See It in Context

Intentó sorprenderla y le salió el tiro por la culata.

He tried to surprise her and it backfired on him.

Su estrategia le salió por la culata.

Her strategy backfired on her.

—¿Cómo fue el plan? —Fatal, nos salió el tiro por la culata.

—How did the plan go? —Terribly, it backfired on us.