Meaning:
To `cut off your nose to spite your face' is to disadvantage yourself in
order to do harm to an adversary.
For example, a restauranteur might refuse to serve bankers because he
disapproves of money-lending. He would harm the bankers slightly by this by
inconveniencing them, but harm himself also by the loss of business.
The expression is often used as proverbial advice "Don't cut off your nose to
spite your face". That is "don't do something to harm your enemies and end up
harming yourself".
Background:
The precise wording `cut off your nose to spite your face' doesn't appear in
print until the 18th century. Grose's 1788 edition of the Classical
Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue came a little closer to the current form:
"He cut off his nose to be revenged of his face. Said of one who, to be
revenged on his neighbour, has materially injured himself."
That `revenged of his face' was the common form in the 18th century. It isn't
until the mid 19th that we find the `spite' version we use now. An early
example of this is found in the London newspaper The Guardian, January 1861:
Therefore, if you are disposed to verify the old proverb, and "cut off your
noses to spite your faces," I will not be so ungrateful as to assist.
- www.phrases.org.uk [edited]
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It seems the new President has led America to cut its nose to spite its own
face. Like many, I am intrigued and desperate for some clue about the method, if
any, and the logic of this madness.
One theory is that the American dollar, the trusted story of world commerce, has
been showing a crack or two as interest rates stay high and each deficit chips
its credibility. Maybe the current trade and consumption model can only lead to
the ultimate financial ruin. What happens then? Will Americans bow their proud
heads and slave away to pay debt?
