misfire

A misfire is when someone tries to do or say something and ends up doing or saying the opposite.

In everyday life, people often use "misfire" to describe situations that don't go as planned. For example, if you're trying to make a good impression at work but end up accidentally offending your boss, it could be said that your words "misfired." Or maybe you were trying to surprise someone with a gift, but they ended up thinking it was something else entirely – in this case, the gift itself misfired as a pleasant surprise. In general, when someone tries to aim for one thing but hits another, we might say that there's been a "misfire."