>You're right, that's the way it's used, but "hoist by my own petard" has to be one of the clumsiest phrases in the English language. It sounds like an anachronism (and may in fact be one). It sure isn't anything I would ever say out loud.

Does it translate into the Serbian "ko drugome jamu kopa, sam u nju pada"? The most literal translation would be "who to other pit digs, self into it falls". Or, less literally, "one who digs a hole for another, falls into it himself".