backfire

Telling people what they should and shouldn’t do can backfire.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026

But there’s no way this could possibly backfire, right?

From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2026

“Law enforcement has good intentions but they sometimes backfire with unintended consequences. Often, the more laws you create to prevent people from having a reptile, the more they want them. But sometimes prohibition does work.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

Businesses, meanwhile, want to lower the odds of having team-building backfire.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026

Then he would sit and brood for hours while Mary frantically built up a backfire of gaiety.

From "Cannery Row" by John Steinbeck

The company has long relied on this high-yielding equity as its primary engine to bankroll Bitcoin acquisitions—a strategy that backfires when the shares lose ground.

From Barron's ● Jun. 26, 2026

All of the above comes with a caveat: Unbridled choice often backfires.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 14, 2026

Officers potentially wasting thousands of hours in pursuit of car backfires and construction noise mislabeled as gunfire has not deterred the New York Police Department from continuing to use it.

From Salon ● Feb. 8, 2026

Is there a chance this really backfires, then?

From Slate ● Jan. 13, 2026

The car behind me at the drive-thru backfires, and I rush inside.

From "Dumplin'" by Julie Murphy

The last time they tried, it backfired spectacularly.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026

But a police crackdown on crowds marching towards parliament on July 20 backfired, galvanising support for the movement and transforming anger over exam leaks into a broader expression of youth frustration.

From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026

For much of the past year, the company has attempted to move on after efforts to modernize the chain backfired.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

The chain has experienced other problems as well, including remodels that backfired, agitation among activist investors and same-store sales that have wobbled over Masino’s three-year tenure.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026

I asked Joe to tell me what was the joke that backfired and he said go jump in the lake.

From "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes

But I also feel like there’s a huge risk of that backfiring.

From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2026

Nestlé tweaked its portfolio, but investors say some acquisitions were a distraction, backfiring as the company expanded into non-core areas.

From Barron's ● Jun. 10, 2026

The strategy started backfiring unexpectedly in recent months.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 12, 2026

At around that time, those price increases started backfiring.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 25, 2025

Then a truck came toward us with its chains ratding and its engine backfiring.

From "The Stranger" by Albert Camus