saw off the branch one is sitting on

Verb

saw off the branch one is sitting on (third-person singular simple present saws off the branch one is sitting on, present participle sawing off the branch one is sitting on, simple past sawed off the branch one was sitting on, past participle sawed off the branch one was sitting on or sawn off the branch one was sitting on)

1. To pursue a course of action that will lead to self-destruction.
   • A critic's role, he wrote, is that of “sawing off the branch on which one is sitting”: One can and may continue to sit on a branch while sawing it. There is no physical or moral obstacle if one is willing to risk the consequences.2006, Frederick Crews, Postmodern Pooh, page 11
   • Since the theory of action must necessarily start with the actors, then the actors who saw off the branch on which they sit cannot give their action any meaning.2012, U. Duchrow, F. Hinkelammert, Transcending Greedy Money