I am watching a video of a person releasing a mouse from a plastic trap into the "wild," but it was actually released in an open field. The freed mouse gets across the field and then a large bird happens upon it. Is there a word that describes "Hell is paved with good intentions?" Kind of ironic, but saying more than it merely backfired.
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1Is it the law of unintended consequences? – Yosef Baskin Nov 08 '20 at 22:28
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2Does this answer your question? Expression for "intend to help but instead making things worse" – livresque Nov 08 '20 at 22:46
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See also: Is there an English word or phrase that means “intending to help and hurting instead?” – livresque Nov 08 '20 at 22:48
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Again..your title sounds like "sacrifice", but the text describes "ironic". Those are 2 very different concepts. Do you need a word to encompass both? – Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_ Nov 08 '20 at 22:54
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Cascabel, please don't get snippy. It was unintended, but not a sacrifice. A sacrifice would imply it was intended. Ironic may be more suitable, but I was looking for a different word. Thanks. – Nov 09 '20 at 01:19
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Livresque, thanks for the link but they basically said what I've said here. It's not exactly what I am looking for. I will also look at your other link. – Nov 09 '20 at 01:21
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Well Livresque, everyone is saying the same thing: well-intentioned. I feel like there is a better phrase or word out there, besides irony or hindrance. – Nov 09 '20 at 01:24
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OK thanks everybody. I think I've seen enough answers. I appreciate your help. – Nov 09 '20 at 01:27
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This one is close to the "straightener for a bender" question (Italian proverb). German has a single vefb for this, btw. I would translate it ad-hoc as dis-improve, but that's not quite correct. Not much better: to impose, protest, change one evil for another, fix a bug add hundred more. – vectory Nov 09 '20 at 04:19
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1Collateral damage? – StephenS Nov 09 '20 at 06:12
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There is no single word that conveys the idea of helping someone or something and it backfiring or actually being more harmful. There are plenty of phrases and idioms but not one "word". – Mari-Lou A Nov 09 '20 at 10:01
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Does this answer your question? Is there an English word or phrase that means "intending to help and hurting instead?" – Mari-Lou A Nov 09 '20 at 10:05
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1"Hell is paved with good intentions?" This is wrong. The saying is "*The road to Hell is paved with good intentions*" (The general belief is that Hell itself is not paved as it is a lake of molten brimstone.) – Greybeard Dec 09 '20 at 11:10
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Situations as the one you are describing are generally referred to as:
out of the frying pan into the fire (saying)
when you move from a bad or difficult situation to one that is worse
(Cambridge Dictionary)
user 66974
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1When having lunch at the monastery it's "Out of the frying pan, into the friar." – Hot Licks Nov 09 '20 at 00:08
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To throw the baby out with the bathwater. LINK
To discard something valuable or important while disposing of something considered worthless, especially an outdated idea or form of behavior.
GEdgar
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I really don’t see how that applies to feeling good about freeing a mouse into the wild only to see it all go terribly wrong as a hawk snatches it up. – Jim Nov 10 '20 at 15:30
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Another phrase:
https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/going+from+bad+to+worse
Going from bad to worse.
Xanne
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